Ole Miss v.s. Vanderbilt Preview
The Rebels play host to the Vanderbilt Commodores tonight in the Tad Pad. These next two games is a tough bout for the Rebels but if they can dig down deep and pull off two amazing victories then they may be considered contenders for the NCAA Tournament in March. The Rebs will face Kentucky on Saturday, however they put their focus on tonights home game and beating a good Commodores team.
Now with the Rebs playing almost perfect at home this season I leave it up to you, the Hotty Toddy Nation, to show up and support the Rebels in tonights game. Our only loss at home coming to Florida who we had throughout the game and let it slip through our fingers. The Rebels are a much better team than most give them credit for. Just think, we had Florida all the way to the end and the two double overtime losses to Alabama and Auburn on the road that could have ended in wins. The only two SEC losses that we played terrible in were at LSU and at Mississippi State so with a win tonight the Rebs have a chance to move into third place in the SEC with State struggling. Here is a matchup and the keys to victory over a tough Vanderbilt team.
Game Matchup (Ole Miss——-Vanderbilt)
Record: 15-9 (5-5 SEC)————17-8 (6-4 SEC)
PPG: 65.7————————73.8
PPGA: 64.0————————66.3
R:H/A 10-1————————4-3
Probable Starters (Ole Miss)
Terrence Henry
Nick Williams
Murphy Holloway
Reginald Buckner
Jarvis Summers
Probable Starters (Vanderbilt)
Jeffrey Taylor
Festus Ezeli
Lance Goulbourne
Brad Tinsley
John Jenkins
Keys To Victory For Ole Miss
Stop The Three: The Rebels love to go to that 2-3 zone so much and it kills us because we get out of position to quickly and teams bury three pointers on us. Vanderbilt shoots the three better than anyone and we have to stop it and force them inside against our big men.
Get Rebounds: For the last few weeks I have watched teams getting many offensive boards on our more size advantage Rebels and enough is enough. The Rebs need to box out the shooters and go up and get the ball. Come down strong with rebounds and move the ball up the floor quickly.
Turnovers Are A Killer: Teams have found a weakness in our team and its the full court pressure on Freshman Jarvis Summers. Summers turns the ball over a lot when he is pressured at full court so the Rebels need to in bound the ball more quickly and push the ball up the floor. Not allowing shots to go through will also help this cause.
Home Court Advantage: The Rebels have been dominant at home this season. They looked like they were going to drop one to Auburn last Saturday until the emergence of Holloway took over. Maintain that dominance and stay strong throughout the game.
More Than One Step Up: Whether its Buckner against Mississippi State, Henry against Georgia, or Holloway against Auburn the Rebels always have one man step up to take control of a game. Why can’t we have every man on the floor have a good night and go out with some confidence and score a lot of points. This is how you will beat Vanderbilt and finally be taken seriously.
3 Things To Think About
In the Ole Miss v.s. Vanderbilt series it has been the home team that has thrived. The home team has won 21 of the last 25 meetings when these two square off.
If the Rebs win tonight they can move into third place in the SEC and be seen as contenders when they go to Kentucky on Saturday.
Vanderbilt has dropped 3 of its last 4 games so coming into an atmosphere like the Tad Pad may be hard to handle for the Commodores.
Tonight’s game tipsoff at 8:00 p.m. central time and will be held in the Tad Smith Colisieum in Oxford, Mississippi. It’s a Thursday night in Oxford and the students will pack the house ready to cheer on their Ole Miss Rebels. Hotty Toddy!