The Ole Miss Rebels avoided disaster on Saturday night, escaping with a 79-76 win over the Missouri Tigers who hold a winless record in SEC play.
Saturday's win helps keep Ole Miss' NCAA Tournament hopes alive after a difficult start to the month of February, and a large contributor in that win was the performance of senior guard Matthew Murrell.
Murrell recorded his 200th career three-point basket against Missouri in the game, and he led the Rebels in scoring with 26 points on the night. What stood out to his head coach, however, was a continued trend of leadership from his star.
When the game was trending Missouri's way, Murrell proved to be a rock for the rest of the roster to rely on.
"Got us off to a great start," Beard said postgame. "Really aggressive offensively. I don't know if 'enjoying' is the right word. Tonight wasn't very enjoyable, but a lot of respect for how he plays defense too.
"Matt's an effort guy. He plays hard, man. He makes mistakes like everybody, but his effort is always on point. He was really a calming force tonight in terms of leadership, halftime, throughout the game."
Murrell commands the respect of his teammates, and his workman's attitude shows his willingness to go through difficult times to achieve success. Still, it helps that he comes through on game nights more often than not, and he did that again on Saturday.
"His voice you could hear loud and clear during timeouts," Beard said, "and he obviously had a good night scoring the basketball."
The win brought Ole Miss back to the .500 mark in league play, but the road gets more difficult moving forward. The Rebels will travel to Starkville to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Wednesday before playing host to nationally-ranked South Carolina on Saturday.
Tip-off against State on Wednesday is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised on ESPN2.
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