Ole Miss basketball battled the Arkansas Razorbacks Saturday in Fayetteville however the Rebels came up short in the SEC road contest 97-93.
At 0-4 in away games coming into Saturday’s game against the Hogs meant Ole Miss basketball needed a win. Sitting at .500 in SEC play meant Ole Miss basketball needed a win. Coach Andy Kennedy and the Rebels needed a win. However, the Ole Miss Rebels (10-9, 3-4) couldn’t close against the Arkansas Razorbacks (13-6, 3-4) and remain win-less on the road.
There are games when it seems like nothing falls in the basket. Of course, there are also games where everything seems like it falls for the other team. This was the case in the first half for the Razorbacks from the arc. With an onslaught of threes everything seemed to drop. As a result the Rebels trailed at the break 50-38.
As with most Ole Miss basketball games this season it was the tale of two halves. In the second half the Rebels played much better and outscored the Hogs 55-47. However, Ole Miss couldn’t erase the deficit established in the first half despite a strong second half run. A run which brought the Rebels to within two at one point late in the game. The Rebels fell to 0-5 in road play on the season with the 97-93 loss. Of course, like all hoops games we’ll look at the stats from the Arkansas loss.
Team Numbers
Ole Miss Rebels Basketball
Although the stat-line for the Rebels improved from the previous game the Rebels were still out-shot by the Hogs. Although they each made the same number of baskets from the field and also 3-point range, the Hogs shot with more efficiency.
From the field the Ole Miss Rebels shot 29 of 60 for 48.3% while Arkansas shot 29 of only 53 for 54.7%. From 3-point range the Rebels were 11 of 29 for 37.9% while the hogs made 11 of 22 for 50.0%.
In both cases the same amount of shots were made so you know the difference in the game came at the charity stripe. The Hogs went to the line more than the Rebels shooting 28 of 35 for 80.0% while Ole Miss shot 24 of 29 for 82.8%.
Even though the game was close in many aspects with one team or the other with a slight advantage over the other, there were some huge differences. Ole Miss had 22 second chance points compared to only 11 for Arkansas.
Where Ole Miss has depended on its bench to produce points this season they fell short of their normal production Saturday. The Arkansas bench was responsible for 39 points in the game whereas Ole Miss only accounted for 12 points.
Individual Rebels Numbers
Ole Miss had four Rebels score in double-digits in the game. Terence Davis seemed to find an answer for the shooting slump he had been in. Davis led all Rebels scorers with an incredible 30 point performance. Davis also had 5 boards, 1 blocked shot and 1 steal. Breein Tyree added 16 points in the game while also getting 1 board and 5 assists. Bruce Stevens and Deandre Burnett each added 15 points. Stevens had 4 rebounds and 3 assists while Burnett had 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
Dominik Olejniczak scored 6 points while adding 4 boards and a blocked shot. Marcanvis Hymon added 5 points while securing 8 rebounds and 1 assist in the game. Devontae Shuler added 4 points while also getting 1 board, 3 assists and 2 steals. Markel Crawford rounded out the scoring for the Rebels with 2 points. Crawford also had 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
Of course, there is an obvious problem with consistency in the Ole Miss line-up which we’ll address later. The Rebels shouldn’t lose when they score 93 points and have 4 players scoring in double digits with one of them eclipsing 30 points. I’m sure we can all agree on those points.
Next: AK's Top 5 Greatest Moments!
Up Next
Thankfully the Rebels say goodbye to the road temporarily and return home. Ole Miss basketball will host the Alabama Crimson Tuesday night in Oxford. Tip-off is set for 7:30pm CT from The Pavilion and the will be televised on the SEC Network. Hotty Toddy!