Ole Miss Basketball: Rebels Hoops On Road To Take On No.18 Tennessee
Ole Miss basketball needs to find a way to salvage a respectable season from the up and downs we’ve seen so far. However, they have to find it on the road.
So far this has been a season of struggles for Ole Miss basketball. There have been games where they’ve looked like the past Andy Kennedy coached teams however we haven’t seen it very much. Of course, the worst part of the Rebels this season is their inability to compete away from Oxford. Right now the Rebels are 0-6 in true road games and desperately need a good road win.
Coming off a 79-70 loss to SEC leader No.11 Auburn this past Tuesday night Ole Miss (11-11, 4-5) is now back on the road. The Rebels travel to Knoxville to take on the No.18 Tennessee Vols. Tennessee (16-5, 6-3) has been one of the SEC basketball surprises this season. The Vols are coming off a 84-61 blowout of LSU and have won 4 straight games.
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes is a very good coach and has a team full of talented players. UT has proven they can play hard and fast and compete with anybody. Like any other successful team atop the SEC they play well on both ends of the court. They create turnovers and bad shots and can score in bunches. The main thing is they play hard and fast for 40 minutes. Of course, we will look at some of their key players.
Scouting The Vols
Ole Miss Rebels Basketball
The Tennessee Vols are loaded with great players. Of course, it shows in their individual numbers. Sophomore forward James Williams leads the Vols in scoring. Williams averages 16.1 points per game. Williams is also the Vols leading re-bounder averaging 6.3 boards per outing while also averaging 2 assist per as well.
The Vols also have junior forward Admiral Schofield who can score. Schofield averages 12.4 points, 6.0 boards and 1.6 assists per game. Schofield is also the team leader in steals for the Vols with 1.1 per game.
Senior guard James Daniels III is another player to watch for. Daniels leads the Vols in assists averaging 3.5 per game. Daniels III also averages 7.2 points and 1.6 rebounds per game as well.
6’11” junior forward Kyle Alexander leads the Vols in blocks with 1.9 per game. Alexander also averages 5.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Tennessee has a very physical team who can match up well with anybody.
What To Expect
The Vols have very physical guards and their success relies on strong play from them. They move the ball well in transition and don’t make many misguided mistakes. As mentioned before this team can shoot the ball well and can score big very fast. We can expect Tennessee to learn from the Rebels game against Auburn and force the ball in the paint against Ole Miss. They will try to put the Rebels into foul trouble early. On defense we can expect hard physical play from the Vols in effort to create Ole Miss mistakes like turnovers and bad shots.
We really have no idea what to expect from this Ole Miss basketball team. Coach Andy Kennedy has so many different line-ups and had so many different game-plans we have no choice but be surprised. However, I do know Andy Kennedy’s back is solidly against the wall and he needs the win. I will go out on a limb and say we see more Deandre Burnett, Breein Tyree and Terence Davis. There has been an obvious issue with Bruce Stevens play the past few games which I hope is corrected this Saturday.Of course, the Rebels could continue to use good play from Dominik Olejniczak as well.
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Of course we have no idea how the Rebels will fair on the road. It definitely hasn’t been good at all so far. Ole Miss basketball needs a big road win and this would be a really great one. Tip-off from The Summitt in Knoxville is set for 5pm CT this Saturday as the Ole Miss Rebels take on the No.18 Tennessee Vols. Good luck to coach Andy Kennedy and Rebels hoops. Hotty Toddy!