Ole Miss won four straight home games to start the season.
The Rebels will get their first test away from home when they visit Temple (3-1) on Wednesday afternoon in Philadelphia.
“All four of our games have been games that tested our composure and poise down the stretch,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said.
The Rebels defeated Alabama State by 10 points on Nov. 6 and Eastern Washington by 11 four days later after pulling away in the final minutes. But in the last two games, they beat Detroit Mercy 70-69 on Nov. 14 and Sam Houston 70-67 three days later.
Ole Miss seized a two-point lead against Sam Houston on Jaylen Murray’s 3-pointer with 1:05 left. They added a free throw to account for the final score.
“On a night where some teams might have folded I think we actually played our best late in the game so that was promising,” Beard said. “We obviously have a ways to go as a basketball team, but we’ll get there.”
The Owls already have played two games on opponents’ home courts, although one was against cross-town rival Drexel. They followed those two games with a home loss to Columbia 78-73 on Saturday.
“I think being on the road for two and coming back home, everybody is anxious to play well at home,” head coach Adam Fisher said. “But this is where you’ve got to come more together. This is the first time we’ve seen adversity.
“I thought our locker room was upbeat, positive, angry, upset, and hurt. It’s OK to have all of those emotions, but we can’t allow for one (loss) to become two, and we have to learn from it, get better, and then come back next game.”
Temple received a game-high 29 points from point guard Hysier Miller and had two other double-figure scorers in Matteo Picarelli (18) and Jahlil White (11). The Owls, however, received only 15 points outside of the top three scorers.
“We have to do a better job at getting other people involved,” Fisher said.
–Field Level Media