A week after losing a heartbreaker to Texas A&M, Ole Miss welcomed the Texas Longhorns for the first as members of the Southeastern Conference to the Sandy and John Black Pavilion on the campus of Ole Miss for a Wednesday showdown.

As the schedule was released, many around college basketball had the Wednesday night matchup between the Longhorns and Rebels circled twice, as it would be Ole Miss Head Coach Chris Beard going against his former team, the Texas Longhorns. Coach Beard spent two seasons in Austin, leading the Longhorns to a conference tournament championship and back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids.

Much like the game in Starkville between Mississippi State and Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas exchanged blows throughout the game with very little separation between the two.

With 5:00 minutes on the clock, Ole Miss put together a run with four for four from the field to push the Rebels lead over the Longhorns to 63-58. As the final media timeout rolled out, the Ole Miss Rebels lead had extended to 65-61 with 3:18 on the clock. A sold-out Pavilion was the 6th man Ole Miss needed to escape with a win over a solid Texas Longhorns team.

Having been there before last week against the Aggies of Texas A&M to pull out a win over Texas is massive for Coach Beard and his Rebels as they shift the focus to slaying the goliaths of the Southeastern Conference on Saturday and Tuesday night. Digging deep and finding a way to win that game will go a long way for the Rebels as they continue the gauntlet of the Southeastern Conference.

With the loss to the Aggies looming over the shoulder over Ole Miss, the Wednesday night win over the Texas Longhorns will likely be one of those games for Coach Beard and his team to look back on as momentum boosters before another difficult week loomed on the horizon with Auburn on Saturday and Kentucky coming to town next Tuesday night.

Photo Credits – Ole Miss Basketball on X