Travis Perry and Ole Miss are making themselves at home in Music City.
The Rebels ousted Texas 76-66 in the opening round and eliminated Georgia 76-72 in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Thursday night. Ole Miss (14-19) won four league games during the regular season, but have won two in the postseason.
Perry scored 16 points, connected on four 3-pointers, including a clutch trey down the stretch to keep the Rebels alive in the tournament. The Rebels led by 23 in the second half and withstood a late rally by the Bulldogs to advance in what likely will be the team’s lone postseason appearance,
“I don't feel like we really were too blindsided by it,” the former Kentucky Mr. Basketball and Wildcats guard said. “They're a great team. They shoot the three well, play very fast. Only a matter of time till they busted open a little bit. So, we kind of knew it was coming.”
The expectation of a rally and the calmness in the huddle, Perry said, kept Ole Miss calm in the middle of the proverbial storm.
“The huddles were all connected. Everybody knew if we wanted to keep playing, we had to win,” Perry said. “That was the mindset, play hard and keep doing what we were doing.”
Perry, who transferred to Ole Miss after one season at Kentucky, has received support from Big Blue Nation and added, “it’s aways good to have support.” Perry added seeing his former team and the Wildcats’ fan base hasn’t been a distraction.
“Kentucky fans travel well to Nashville,” he said. “The mindset is always to go out there and play for my teammates. I'm really happy where I'm at. I'm really happy playing with Malik (Dia) every day, playing for Coach Beard. The mindset is to come out there and figure out a way to help my team win. That's something that probably makes my mom really happy over there hearing that stuff. But for me, I'm just focused on trying to do anything I can to help us win.”
Although scoring was his main attribute against the Bulldogs, he also grabbed six rebounds, including a clutch offensive board in the closing seconds on a missed free throw late in the game.
“I think that's something I've continued to try to work on,” he said. “There's been ups and downs this season with that. I talked with Coach Beard right before we came down here. We knew what the mission was, we want to win one game at a time. For us to win, I feel like I had to come out there and do more than just shoot the ball. You're not always going to shoot the ball well.
The bottom line, Perry said, is “to impact the game any way I can” while on the court.
“They've been on me all year about being a little bit nastier, a little bit more physical all around the game,” he said. “I feel like tonight I finally got a good bruise from Somto there. That helped a little bit for my case of being nasty. But that's just been the main thing, just trying to impact the game without scoring the ball.”
When Perry transferred to Ole Miss, coach Chris Beard wanted the state’s all-time leading prep scorer to be more than a role player.
“The idea for him at Ole Miss was to play a bigger role,” Beard said. “Travis is not a soft player. He's a physical guy. He's a competitor. But in the game of basketball, there's going to be plays and possessions where you have to play with that kind of strength. We've been encouraging Travis from one day to initiate the contact, don't run from it. I think tonight's stat with him getting six rebounds speaks for itself. Obviously, he took a big-time pop there on the flagrant.”
Although at at-large NCAA bid is impossible for the Rebels, winning the league’s automatic bid remains within reach. Ole Miss will try to extend its run against Alabama tonight in the quarterfinals.
“Our big thing is we've tried to tap into our NCAA tournament experience,” Beard said. “We're not viewing this any different. This is our survival and advance moment.”
Travis Perry talks to the media following Mississippi's 76-72 win over Georgia on Thursday night. Perry scored 16 points in the win. (Screenshot)
