Turnover’s Destroy Golden Opportunity
It was an exciting game in Tuscaloosa, as the Rebels and the Tide had to go to Double Overtime in order to settle the game. The problem for the Rebels came down to turnovers which they had 17. This may not sound bad seeing as how the Rebels average 16 turnovers per game, however the places where they turned the ball over were spots that they could have won the game.
The game started out pretty even, with both teams sharing leads. The Rebels began to pull away, but turnovers in Alabama’s full court press plagued the Rebels all night. Going into halftime the Rebels led the game 33 to 26 and had momentum on their side. They were knocking down three point shots and their defense was stout as Buckner was a machine inside. But as every game goes their must be a second half and this is where the Ole Miss basketball team has been awful this season. Much like the Ole Miss football team was in the third quarter of games this year, the basketball team’s second half performance started off horrific. They were throwing up shots that no college player should attempt to shoot.
The strong play of their defense is what kept them into the game, until it looked like their two-three zone was going to be a Florida repeat all over again. The Rebels are stronger in man and when they go to the 2-3 they allow way to many three point buckets.
Coming down to the end of regulation the Crimson Tide got a good look but couldn’t get it to fall and the game went to overtime.
In the first overtime the Rebels would score first but then find themselves fall quickly behind to Bama with more turnovers. In the final minutes it was the stellar play of Nick Williams, Ole Miss only spark in the game, who hit the three and once again sent the game into another overtime. Later on in overtime number one the Rebels would have the last shot to win the game when Terrence Henry and Jarvis Summers would both be bitten by the turnover bug at the wrong time. Henry was stripped but fortunately for the Rebels the ball went out of bounds. The Rebs in bounded the ball to Summers who looked to have an easy lay-up and was stripped himself leading to a second overtime.
In overtime number two the Tide would seal the victory as Summers would once again turn the ball over, showing his true Freshman colors at point. After hitting a meaningless three pointer in the end the Tide won in Double Overtime 69-67. Here is a list of stats from both teams starters and bench.
Ole Miss Starters
Terrence Henry: 14 pts-4 reb-3 ast-2 stl-1 blk-5 to
Nick Williams: 19 pts-5 reb-1 stl-1 to
Murphy Holloway: 8 pts-9 reb-1 ast-2 stl-1blk-1 to
Reginald Buckner: 11 pts-8 reb-2 ast-3 blk-4 to
Jarvis Summers: 7 pts-4 reb-4 ast-4 to
Ole Miss Bench
Demarco Cox: 5 pts-5 reb-1 blk-1 to
Jelan Kendrick: 3 pts-3 reb-2 ast-1 to
Alabama Starters
JaMychal Green: 16 pts-12 reb
Nick Jacobs: 6 pts-9 reb
Trevor Releford: 7 pts-5 stl
Trevor Lacey: 2 reb-1 blk
Levi Randolph: 6 pts-2 reb
Alabama Bench (Short)
Points: 34
Rebounds: 10
Assist: 5
Steals: 4
Blocks: 3
Ole Miss v.s. Alabama Comparison
Points: 67—-69
Rebounds: 38—-39
Assist: 12——11
Steals: 5—–9
Turnovers: 17—–12
Blocks: 6——5
Field Goal Percentage: 42.6——-39.7
Free Throw Percentage: 56.3——66.7
3 Point Percentage: 54.5——17.6
The Rebels dominated in the three point percentage category and won the field goal percentage. They shot free throws fairly well and kept up on defense. This game simply game down to turnovers for the Rebels. It is hard for any team to win when they give up 17 turnovers and only create 12. This team needs to do a better job taking care of the ball and getting better shot looks before just throwing the ball up and hitting nothing.
The road only gets tougher as the Rebels travel to Mississippi State next Thursday night. With a win already over their in state rivals the Rebels need this win in Starkville to still be considered for the NCAA Tournament this year.