Former St. Joseph’s Standout Returns for Senior Season with Ole Miss
Former St. Joseph’s standout, Bree Tyree, shown here soaring for a dunk in the first half of the Falcons 79-46 victory over St. John Vianney of Holmdel in the NJSIAA Quarterfinals at Maglio Gymnasium on March 4, 2016 in Metuchen. Tyree has returned to play his senior year at Ole Miss, and is averaging 16 ppg through the team’s first 8 games.
OXFORD, MS—On Tuesday, GMC Hoops had a busy schedule seeing a Middle School in the afternoon and a college hoops game at night. So, we decided to DVR several games. One of the four games chosen to record was between No. 24 Butler of the Big East at Ole Miss.
Believe it or not, both teams featured players that played in the GMC at one time. Khalif Battle, the younger brother of former Syracuse men’s basketball standout, Tyus Battle, and the son of former Colonia legend and 1,100 plus point scorer, Gary Battle, is now a freshman at Butler while Bree Tyree, a member of the St. Joseph’s Fab Five that won the TOC in 2014, is now a senior at Mississippi.
Both Battle and Tyree were teammates on the 2015-16 St. Joseph’s Falcons squad that was coached by current Middlesex County College head coach, Dave Turco, and reclaimed the 2016 GMCT Boys Championship by defeating South Brunswick at Kean University, 56-48. Those Falcons, which also included Tyus Battle, Alonzo Frink, Branislav Vujadinovic, and Letrell West eventually reached the Non-Public A South Championship before falling to St. Augustine of Richland.
Entering the game, Bulter was 7-0 on the season while Mississippi was 5-2 including a come from behind 74-72 victory over Penn State in the opening round of the 2019 NIT Tip-Off at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn on Thanksgiving Eve. Butler got a stellar performance from guard, Kamar Baldwin, who made 11 of 16 shots from the floor including 4 of 5 from long range, and netted all five of his free throw attempts for a game high 31 points along with 6 rebounds and 3 assists in a 67-58 win.
Tyree, who did not start the game, still managed to turn in a solid effort with a team high 22 points on 8 of 16 shooting including 4 of 8 from beyond the arc while also collecting 8 rebounds and an assist. Tyree heated up in the second half as Ole Miss, which trailed 31-22 at halftime, and by as many as 16 in the second half, rallied with a 14-2 tear. Tyree played a huge part in the run with 10 of those points including a dunk at the 12:08 mark, threes at the 10:16 and 9:35 marks, and a layup that closed the gap to 52-48 with 9:11 remaining.
The Rebels would not get any closer though as the Bulldogs improved to 8-0 on the season by finishing the game on a 15-10 run. It was the 6th time in 8 games that Tyree had scored in double figures including his fourth of scoring 20 points or more according to ESPN. Tyree has played in all 8 games for Ole Miss including 7 starts. He has averaged 28.6 minutes, 16.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. He has managed to accomplish a great deal despite having some struggles shooting from the floor.
Tyree has only connected on 45 of 116 shot attempts from the floor for 38.8 percent including a 12 of 47 showing from beyond the arc for just 25.5 percent. Once he gets himself in a better shooting rhythm, expect his current numbers to go up. So far this year, his season high has been 24 points against a highly talented and No. 16 ranked Memphis team coached by famous alum, Penny Hardaway. In that game played on the road in Memphis, Tyree played 35 minutes made 7 of 20 shots from the floor including 2 of 7 from three, and sank 8 of 10 from the line.
In the win over Penn State in the NIT Tip-Off, Ole Miss trailed 43-27 at the half, and by 21 with 16:23 remaining, the Rebels rallied with a 43-20 surge to end the game. Tyree, who led the way with a team high 18 points along with 5 rebounds, scored all of those points in the second half on 7 of 13 shooting including his only three of the contest. He also added a perfect 3 of 3 from the line. Tyree did not score until. The 17:51 mark of the second half when he sank his only three to close the gap to 47-31.
Tyree has played in a total of 107 games including 86 starts, and tallied 1,315 career points, or an average of 12.3 points per game as per Ole Miss’ athletic department. He also has averaged 26.2 minutes, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. His assist to turnover ratio is 1.2. The Somerset native has made 449 of 1083 shots from the floor for 41.5 percent including 155 of 450 three point attempts for 34.4 percent. Tyree also has made 262 of 341 free throw attempts for 76.8 percent. His season scoring average climbed from 7.3 points as a freshman to 17.9 points per game as a junior last season.
To date, Tyree has scored in double figures 63 times in his career including 25 games of scoring 20 points or more. His career high currently stands at 31 points, which he accomplished twice during his junior year last season. The first time occurred on January 5, 2019 at Vanderbilt (81-71 Ole Miss victory) when Tyree made 11 of 16 shots including 3 of 5 from three point land, and was a perfect 6 of 6 from the line in 36 minutes of playing time. He also had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block in that game. Tyree matched that point total a little over a month later at Georgia.
Against the Bulldogs on the road in Athens on February 9th (80-64 Ole Miss win), Tyree did not shoot the ball as well by making only 11 of 22 shots from the floor including 3 of 8 from downtown, and made 6 of 7 from the line, but still managed to get 31 points. He also added 2 steals, a block, a rebound, and an assist in that game. In those two games combined, Tyree played 72 of 80 minutes, made 22 of 38 shots for 58 percent including 6 of 13 from three for 46 percent, and 12 of 13 from the line for 92.3 percent. He also collected 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks while accounting for 38.5 of the Rebels total scoring.
During Tyree’s tenure at Mississippi, the Rebels have compiled an overall record of 60-50 including a mark of 27-31 in the SEC. Ole Miss reached the quarterfinals of the NIT with wins over Monmouth and Syracuse before losing to Georgia Tech during Tyree’s freshman year, and then made the Big Dance last year, but lost in the opening round of the NCAAs to Oklahoma (95-72). Tyree decided to return for his senior year at Ole Miss while former St. Joseph’s teammate, Tyus Battle decided to go into the NBA Draft. Battle is now playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves G-League affiliate Iowa Wolves based in Des Moines, Iowa.
Tyree was the only underclassman in the starting lineup for the St. Joseph’s Falcons Fab Five in 2013-14. The team, which went 30-2 including a record fifth straight GMCT title over East Brunswick, a third straight Non-Public A South Championship over Paul VI of Haddonfield, and a third straight Non-Public A State Crown over St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City before winning two hard fought and thrilling battles over Linden and Newark East Side in the NJSIAA TOC.
It is the only TOC title by a GMC school, and all five starters from that team: Karl Anthony-Towns (Kentucky), Wade Baldwin (Vanderbilt), Marques Townes (FDU/Loyola-Chicago), Raven Owen (Canisius), and Tyree (Ole Miss) all eventually signed and played NCAA Division I hoops. Keep getting better Bree! Best of luck moving forward, and hopefully we’ll see you play in person one day.