Ole Miss basketball was coming off another devastating overtime loss and needed to find a win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
It’s been a rough season thus far for coach Andy Kennedy and Ole Miss basketball. After falling to Illinois State in overtime this past Saturday, the Rebels were looking to bounce back against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Rebels responded well against the Islanders by jumping out to a lead and never looking back. The 85-63 win brings the Rebels record to 6-5 on the season.
Inconsistent perimeter shooting has been a problem for the Rebels this season. However, Tuesday night that wasn’t a problem. The Rebels used 14 3-pointers to help get the win over the Islanders. Of course, as with any game there are always stats which help tell the story. Lets look at the game by the numbers.
Team Numbers
Ole Miss Rebels Basketball
Of course, the only numbers which matter is the final score. However, we can look at the stats and see patterns from game to game. The stats always tell us how well or how bad we played. In this case the numbers look much better.
The Rebels shot 28 of 52 or 53.8% from the field while limiting Texas A&M Corpus Christi to only 26 of 61 or 42.6%. The Rebels continue to struggle at the charity stripe shooting 15 of 21 or 71.4%. The Islanders were 4 of 6 or 66.7% from the free throw line.
As I stated earlier the outside shooting saw a dramatic improvement. From beyond the arc Ole Miss was 14 of 30 for 46.7% while Texas A&M Corpus Christi was 7 of 14 or 50% from 3-point distance. As reported by Brian Scott Rippee of OleMissSports.com, the 14 made 3-pointers were one shy of the school record of 15.
Of course, coach Andy Kennedy was pleased with his team’s performance against the Islanders. Ole Miss played with the sense of urgency for the entire game and it helped secure the win.
"“We are not in the relaxing business. Our guys have a tendency to relax sometimes. We are up 25, let’s get up 27. I just want our sense of urgency to continue to increase.” ~AK"
Individual Numbers
The big men were on fire last night as Justas Furmanavicius and Dominik Olejniczak led all Rebels in scoring. Each had 15 points while Furmanavicius also had 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocked shots and a steal. Olejniczak added 1 board, 1 assist, 3 blocked shots and 2 steals. They were just two of five Rebels who scored in double digits on the evening.
Deandre Burnett went for 13 points while retrieving 3 boards and getting 8 assists. Breein Tyree and Terence Davis both had 11 points. Tyree had 1 board and 5 assists while Davis had 5 boards, 2 assists and 3 blocked shots. Devontae Shuler had 6 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 steal. Markel Crawford went for 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals in the game.
Marcanvis Hymon and Bruce Stevens both added 4 points each. Hymon also had 1 board and 1 block while Stevens had 3 assists on the night. In limited action DC Davis had 1 point, 1 assist and a steal.
When the Rebels produce as a team they are hard to beat. Of course, we can expect to see them excel as the season progresses and they get better. This could be the game where this team begins to gel and produce on a consistent basis.
Next: AK's Top 5 Greatest Moments!
Up Next
The Rebels have two games remaining in The Pavilion before going back on the road. The Rebels will face Bradley this Friday. Tipoff is set for 6pm CT and will be televised on SECN+. Hotty Toddy!