Ole Miss will play a game as an unranked team for the first time this season when it meets Oral Roberts on Thursday night in Oxford, Miss.
The Rebels (4-0) were ranked No. 24 in the AP preseason poll, slipped to No. 25 after their first two wins and slipped out of the rankings after their last two, including an 84-69 victory against Colorado State in its last game on Saturday in Southaven, Miss.
Though the pollsters don’t seem overly impressed with Ole Miss’ undefeated start, head coach Chris Beard said his team is “headed in the right direction.”
“As a coach, you’re always striving for 40 minutes of (consistent) play,” Beard said. “The reality is that’s what you have to have when you start getting into conference play.”
The Rebels have eight more nonconference games before their SEC opener. Beard said his team “offensively has a lot of things to build on” from the victory over Colorado State.
Ole Miss had five double-figure scorers, led by Jaylen Murray’s 16 points.
“That’s the balance we’re looking for,” Beard said, adding that the Rebels’ total of just four turnovers “is very hard to do in a college basketball game.”
Ole Miss led by as many as 24 points in the first half, but saw the lead shrink to as few as nine points in the second half.
Oral Roberts had an even bigger drop-off from the first half to the second half in its last game.
The Golden Eagles (2-3) led 45-31 at halftime, but wound up losing to Belmont 90-80 on Tuesday in Nashville, Tenn.
Rice transfer Sam Alajiki led Oral Roberts with a career-high 28 points, but only six came in the second half. Summit Conference Preseason Player of the Year Issac McBride added 19 points and a career-high eight assists.
“Issac McBride is a very versatile player offensively,” Golden Eagles coach Russell Springmann said, “and he’s grown as somebody that creates shots for others.”