No. 17 Ole Miss improving its defense as Southern visits

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Ole Miss is trying to solidify its defense and develop its depth as the start of SEC play nears.

The No. 17 Rebels (9-1) had an encouraging performance in their last game, a 77-46 rout of Southern Miss on Saturday in Biloxi, Miss.

Ole Miss will try to continue its momentum when it plays Southern (5-4) on Tuesday night in Oxford, Miss.

The final score Saturday represented the fewest points allowed by Ole Miss and the fewest scored by the Golden Eagles all season.

The emphasis on defense was illustrated by head coach Chris Beard's praise of guard Sean Pedulla's defensive effort, even though Pedulla led the team in scoring with 18 points that came on six 3-pointers.

"I thought he was aggressive on defense," Beard said of Pedulla. "He was very competitive on defense. I think, like what happens a lot in our sport, that will bleed into the other end.

"If you're thinking about the right things, getting stops, playing team defense, the offensive normally takes care of itself."

Southern Miss was short-handed because of multiple absences due to injury, and that made it easier for Beard to achieve his goal of expanding the minutes of several reserves. Eight of the 12 Rebels that received playing time played at least 16 minutes.

"You have to have depth in college basketball," Beard said. "Certainly in the SEC you've got to have depth, so we're in the process of still building that."

After the game against Southern, Ole Miss will face Queens and Memphis before opening SEC play at home against Georgia on Jan. 4.

The Jaguars also are short-handed, which could present Beard with another opportunity to give role players expanded minutes.

Southern lost starting center Delang Muon before the season and it has played two straight games without All-SWAC guard Tidjiane Dioumassi, whose status for Tuesday is uncertain.

"We're down a few guys," Jaguars head coach Kevin Johnson told the Baton Rouge Advocate, "but I like how these guys are playing."

Southern has won four games in a row, but Johnson wasn't pleased with his team's first-half performance in a 94-69 home victory against NAIA opponent Lindsey Wilson College last Tuesday.

That game came on the heels of consecutive road wins against Louisiana Tech (73-70) and Tulsa (70-66).

"You win two road games and come home and think because you're playing an NAIA opponent it's not going to be as hard," Johnson told the Advocate. "That team drove 10 hours on the bus; they didn't come to lay down. But we turned it up in the second half and that was important."

Guard Michael Jacobs, Southern's second-leading scorer (11.1), led the way with 23 points, but as a junior college transfer he's still getting acclimated to his new team.

"I'm taking it one game at a time," Jacobs said. "My teammates are helping me a lot. Learning the game, the team, the system, I'm starting to catch on, but I'm not where I want to be yet."

--Field Level Media