Ole Miss Basketball: Rebels Hoops Slam The Crimson Tide
Coming off two consecutive road losses Ole Miss basketball needed a big win moving forward into the season. The Rebels found one over the Crimson Tide.
Ole Miss basketball needed a huge win to help propel them out of a two game road skid. Of course, coming home to The Pavilion was a welcomed relief for the Rebels even tho they had to face the Alabama Crimson Tide. Alabama was coming into Oxford on a four game win streak with some impressive wins.
Tuesday night found the Rebels getting out to fast start on the streaking Tide. Despite a lull in first half scoring where the Rebels were down big at one point, the Rebels fought back. Ole Miss took a 41-31 lead into the break. The second half was all Ole Miss with the Rebels outscoring the Tide once again. The Rebels were able to close out the game with a 78-66 win over the Tide.
This really was a huge win for the Rebels (11-9, 4-4) as they took down a very competitive Bama team. Avery Johnson and the Tide had found recent success with a makeshift line-up and had Bama on a roll. Bama (13-7, 5-3) is a very well-coached team but came up short against the Rebels. Ole Miss made definitive improvements on both sides of the ball and Bama couldn’t compensate. Of course, we’ll look at the stat-line of the game.
Team Numbers
Ole Miss Rebels Basketball
As a team Ole Miss basketball shot better from the field than recent outings. Against Bama the Rebels went 26 of 52 for 50% while Bama shot only 25-62 for 40.3% from the field. The Rebels proved they can shoot with better consistency from the field. Of course, at 50% or better and Rebels are very hard to beat.
The Rebels out-shot the Tide from the arc as well going 8 of 21 for 38.1% against Alabama who was 6 of 21 for 28.6%. The Rebels lowered their shot total from the arc against the Tide by taking the ball into the paint. Of course, this also enabled the Rebels to get to the line more often than usual.
From the charity stripe the Rebels once again topped the Tide. Ole Miss shot 18 of 24 from the free throw line making 75.0% of their shots. The Tide shot 10 of 14 for 71.4% from the line.
Although most of the other numbers were relatively even the Rebels did cut down on turnovers in the game committing only 10 to Alabama’s 11. However, Ole Miss scored 22 points off Alabama turnovers. We saw Ole Miss play with much more consistency and authority. If Ole Miss basketball continues to play at this level we should see more wins ahead for Andy Kennedy and the Rebels.
Individual Rebels Numbers
Ole Miss had three Rebels score in double figures against the Tide. Deandre Burnett stepped up big time for the Rebels and led scoring with 24 points. Burnett also had 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals in the game. Terence Davis and Markel Crawford each added 15 points. Davis also had 9 rebounds, 1 block and a steal. Crawford had 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
Breein Tyree also had a big game going for 9 points, 3 boards, 4 assists and a blocked shot. Marcanvis Hymon had 8 points and 3 rebounds. Bruce Stevens added 4 points while pulling down 5 rebounds. Stevens also had 2 assist and a blocked shot. Justas Furmanavicius added 2 points with 1 rebound while Dominik Olejniczak had 1 point and 3 rebounds.
When we see solid and consistent guard play from the Rebels we usually see them have success. If you look back over the Rebels conference games and you can clearly see they play better in the wins. Of course, basketball is not a game where you can turn the ball over, play bad defense and make poor decisions and come out on top. Against Bama Ole Miss played solid at both ends of the court and it secured the win.
Next: AK's Top 5 Greatest Moments!
Up Next
Ole Miss basketball will once again hit the road to take on the Texas Longhorns in the Big12/SEC Challenge. Shaka Smart and the Longhorns (13-7, 4-4) are coming off a 73-57 Big12 win over Iowa State. Of course, Texas also has a wins over Alabama, Texas Tech, VCU and Butler. Tip-off from Austin, Texas is set for this Saturday at 1pm CT. The game will be televised on ESPN2. Congrats on the win over the Tide and good luck against the Horns. Hotty Toddy!