Ole Miss coach Chris Beard shares his thoughts on BYU basketball

BYU Basketball will face No. 23 Ole Miss on Thanksgiving Day in San Diego.

The matchup is part of the Rady Children’s Invitational.

THIS WEEK pic.twitter.com/MHnBD0keic

— BYU Men’s Basketball (@BYUMBB) November 25, 2024

It’s a step forward in competition for BYU and Ole Miss, who have played few non-conference schedules to this point in the season.

BYU/Ole Miss is not only an exciting Big 12 vs. SEC matchup, but also a strong head coaching battle.

First-year principal Kevin Young leads BYU, while Chris Beard, in his second year at Oxford, leads the Ole Miss Rebels.

Beard, who reached the National Championship Game during his time at Texas Tech and has been to five NCAA Tournaments in eight previous seasons as head coach, praised what he sees from BYU.

“I was very impressed (with BYU) in our preparation since this summer when we knew we would have the opportunity to play BYU. I think they are well trained. Their team definitely has an identity on offense,” Beard said. “They have a dynamic point guard, actually two dynamic point guards. They have a great combination of inside play and defensive play.

“Their coaching staff does a great job of preparing them for big gaps on offense, so it will be a real challenge for our defense to defend at all three levels. They also do a great job of pushing the tempo and playing in the open floor.

“Because of the size and versatility of their squad, I know they can field a defensive lineup where everyone is at least 6 feet tall. They can switch and change their ball screen tactics.”

Thursday marks only the second meeting between BYU and Ole Miss on the hardwood. The first meeting was at the 2015 NCAA Tournament. So Beard explained what his team should expect against BYU.

“I described it to our players like this: We’re going to play a lot of games like this this year against really talented teams in the SEC. I put BYU in the same category.”

BYU connection on Ole Miss basketball team

There’s a BYU connection on Chris Beard’s Ole Miss team.

Ole Miss’ strength and conditioning coach is a BYU alumnus. John Reilly was a men’s track and field athlete at BYU from 2010 to 2011.

Reilly’s Ole Miss bio says he was a volunteer assistant strength coach at BYU in 2011.

BYU vs. Ole Miss: How to watch and listen

Rady invitation for children

Date: Thursday, November 28, 2024

Location: LionTree Arena (San Diego, California)

Note: 3:30 p.m. (MST)

TV: FS1

Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM)

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12-3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.

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