Chris Beard explains what led to his ejection in loss to Tennessee
By David Wasson
Published:
Ole Miss coach Chris Beard briefly exited his mind Tuesday night, earning two technicals and an early shower late in the second half of the Rebels’ 84-66 road loss to Tennessee.
It was quite the display, including Beard charging back to his team’s huddle after being tossed to try and fire the Rebels up – an ultimately unsuccessful attempt that still made for good television. And after the game, Beard spoke about his rationale behind the outburst.
“Yeah, I’ll give you a couple things. You have a Hall of Fame coach here (in Tennessee’s Rick Barnes), first ballot, one of the best that’s ever done it,” Beard began. “And I think if you look back at different spots in his career, he had to fight for his program. And so I kind of think that’s where we are with Ole Miss right now.”
Beard clearly has been in a fighting mood of late, as Ole Miss is mired in a 4-game losing streak, is 11-11 overall and 3-6 in the SEC. But the still-developing stat sheet of Tuesday night’s game became too lopsided in a couple of key columns for Beard to bear.
“I mean, the free-throw differential in this game and the foul differential in this game, just frustrating from a coaching standpoint and a playing standpoint,” Beard continued. “It’s never personal. These are the best officials in college basketball. I can say things like that because I’ve been at all different levels. I know what average officials look like, I know what poor officials look like. These are the best.”
Despite Beard’s assessment of the officiating crew — Ron Groover, James Breeding, and Courtney Green — the fact that Ole Miss was en route to finishing with 27 fouls compared to Tennessee’s 18 and was about to go 13-of-21 from the stripe compared to Tennessee’s 23-of-34 line effort was too much to keep watching.
“But on tonight’s game, the free-throw differential, the fouls called differential, at some point as a coach you have to fight for your players,” Beard added. “That’s exactly what happened tonight.”
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
