Barnes ejected in return to Ole Miss as Rebels win



Cal State Bakersfield men’s basketball coach Rod Barnes, who played and coached at Ole Miss, is introduced to the crowd before Saturday’s game in Oxford. He made an early exit after a pair of second-half technicals.
Bruce Newman | Oxford Eagle via AP

OXFORD • Rod’s return didn’t quite last whole day.

Former Ole Miss coach Rod Barnes, coaching against the Rebels for the first time, was ejected after two technical fouls just seconds apart, and Ole Miss went on to defeat Cal State-Bakersfield 83-67 on Saturday at The Pavilion.

A crowd of 6,276 was friendly to Barnes during pre-game introductions and cheered for him, many standing, as he went off to see another part of the arena with 12 minutes, 30 seconds remaining.

It’s the first ejection Barnes has ever received on an Ole Miss home floor, he said. He was ejected once at Alabama.

This time he took issue with the consistency of officiating and felt like he had to speak up for his players.

“I represent Cal State University Bakersfield. We’re not taking a backseat to anyone. Even though this is my alma mater I’m carrying guys to the floor with the expectation of winning. Anyone starts to not respect us in that way, I have to step up and defend our guys.”

Barnes said he did not curse or demean the official in any way.

The Roadrunners (4-7) were seven points down at the time of Barnes’ first technical, and Breein Tyree hit two free throws to extend the lead.

After a Bakersfield free throw Barnes was teed up again. Tyree made one free throw, and the Rebels led 57-47 when Barnes left the floor.

Ole Miss (6-3) slowly began to take control after Barnes’ exit.

The Rebels got the lead up to 13 on a three-point play by Khadim Sy with 8:34 left. The Roadrunners cut it to six with under 5 to play before the Rebels pushed it out again.

Early on the game had the look of a laugher as Bakersfield missed seven of its first eight shots, and the Rebels had leads of 12-0 and 15-2.

Ole Miss, though, had trouble guarding 6-foot-8, 265-pound forward Shawn Stith who finished with 15 points on 4-for-4 floor shooting and 7-for-10 free throw shooting.

Sophomore forward Blake Hinson led five Ole Miss players in double figures with 23.

The senior-junior backcourt that Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis challenged after Tuesday’s loss to Butler combined for 35 points, 20 from Tyree who was 11-for-14 at the free throw line.

Devontae Shuler, who was shooting just 21 percent over the previous five games, was 6-for-12 from the floor.

Davis was not pleased with the play of his reserves.

“I told our team we can’t function in the league we’re in with bench play like that. They couldn’t guard their position. It seemed like every time we subbed the game got turned,” Davis said.

SOURCE: Alford, Parrish. "Barnes ejected in return to Ole Miss as Rebels win." Daily Journal, 7 December 2019, https://www.djournal.com/sports/barnes-ejected-in-return-to-ole-miss-as-rebels-win/article_aeca4c44-1968-558f-911d-6ce200b5ac5a.html

parrish.alford@journalinc.com
Twitter: @parrishalford