Why Chris Beard said Ole Miss basketball lacked mental toughness vs Auburn and how he plans to respond
OXFORD ― Ole Miss basketball coach Chris Beard is planning "man-to-man, eye-to-eye" conversations on Sunday when his Rebels reconvene.
The topics discussed will include what Beard saw as a lack of mental toughness in the face of fatigue as Ole Miss threw away a nine-point halftime lead in a 91-77 loss to Auburn at the SJB Pavilion.
The Tigers (18-4, 7-2 SEC) didn't just win the second half. They dominated it, outscoring Ole Miss 56-33 with a 73.3% shooting performance in the final 20 minutes. They missed only eight field goals in the entire half and corraled three of those misses.
"I did not like our mental toughness tonight in a lot of areas," Beard said. "One area being when guys get fatigued, we get guys at the scorer's table, we can't just stop the game. And so I thought we had multiple players tonight just take plays off when they appeared to be physically tired."
Beard said he thought Auburn was the better-conditioned team. The Tigers rotated their starters much more aggressively than the Rebels (18-4, 5-4). No Auburn player spent more than 27 minutes on the floor, while Ole Miss relied on four starters to play at least 32 minutes, including star Matthew Murrell, who played 36. Auburn's bench outscored Ole Miss' reserves 36-8.
The Rebels' rotation missed a key contributor in 7-foot-5 center Jamarion Sharp, who was declared out before the game due to a non-COVID illness. Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said the Tigers took advantage of the small lineup the Rebels turned to when Sharp's fellow 7-footer, Moussa Cisse, needed a rest.
But Beard didn't want to use Sharp's absence as an excuse. Ole Miss' defense was dysfunctional in a way that Sharp's presence would not have solved. When Auburn managed 1.24 points per possession in a demolition of Ole Miss two weeks ago, it was one of the worst defensive performances ever by a Beard-coached team. On Saturday, Ole Miss' defense proved even more toothless. Auburn posted 1.34 points per possession.
"Our on-ball defense was not where it needed to be in the second half," Beard said. "Our rim protection wasn't where it needed to be, and then our drops, our rotations.
"You've got different layers of defense. ... Tonight, there was possessions where we just failed on the first line, first insurance policy, second insurance policy."
The loss ‒ Ole Miss' first at home this season ‒ leaves the Rebels at a crossroads.
The next two games on their schedule are brutal road trips. First, they travel to play a surging South Carolina team on Tuesday (5:30 p.m., SEC Network). The Gamecocks have lost once all season, and are riding a five-game winning streak that includes a victory over Kentucky and a road win at Tennessee.
RECAP: Ole Miss basketball collapses down stretch, suffers first home loss of season to Auburn
Next comes a trip to Rupp Arena, where Ole Miss has not won since 1998. Kentucky, though inconsistent, owns one of the most effective offenses in college basketball.
Here's the next test of mental toughness. Can the Rebels steal one of those road games to stay above .500 in SEC play and on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble? Or will they falter, and face one-game referendums of their season every time they take the floor after February's halfway point?
In preparing his team, Beard will rely on his process.
"We have to hold ourselves accountable," Beard said. "Myself included."
David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Why Chris Beard thought Ole Miss lacked mental toughness in Auburn loss
