Ole Miss Basketball: Rebels Hoops Back Home To Host Missouri Tigers
Ole Miss basketball will be looking to bounce back from three consecutive losses as the Rebels host the Missouri Tigers Tuesday night in The Pavilion.
Ole Miss basketball (11-12, 4-6) returns home off the road from a very ugly 94-61 loss to No.18 ranked Tennessee. The loss was the Rebels third straight and they remain win-less on the road at 0-7. Of course, the Rebels need a big win Tuesday night at home to simply try to somehow salvage this season. However, the Missouri Tigers (15-8, 5-5) are coming into Oxford on a huge 69-60 win over Kentucky for their second straight win.
The Rebels have serious issues with inconsistent play. They have continued to make poor shot decisions and excessive turnovers. Of course, they have been playing from behind much of the time and have struggled in transition on both ends of the court. Until the Rebels can make reliable adjustments and play much smarter they will have difficulty in even securing a winning season. Also, the Rebels are running out of time to do it.
Counting tonight’s game Ole Miss has 9 games left in the season. Of course, they are all SEC games and there are no more gimmes left for the Rebels. Of the remaining games before the SEC tourney 4 are road games. And we all know the Rebels road struggles this season. Coach Andy Kennedy has to right the ship or he could be looking at a losing season. Ole Miss needs to win ballgames and after 3 straight losses they had better find a way to do it tonight against Missouri. Of course, we’ll take a closer look at Missouri.
Scouting The Tigers
Ole Miss Rebels Basketball
Coach Cuonzo Martin is in his first season at Missouri and has the Tigers playing really good basketball. The Tigers play Martin’s style fast and aggressive on both ends of the court and have a very talented roster to help execute.
Among the Tigers team leaders is senior guard Kassius Robertson. Robertson leads in scoring and averages 16.0 points per game. Robertson also averages 2.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game as well.
6’11” freshman forward Jontay Porter leads the Tigers in rebounding. Porter averages 6.5 boards per game while also averaging 8.3 points and 2.0 assists per game. Of course, Porter also leads the Tigers in blocks with 1.9 per game.
Freshman guard Blake Harris is another player who is key for Missouri. Harris leads the team in assists and steals. Harris averages 3.1 assists and 1.0 steals per game while also averaging 3.8 points and 2.4 boards per game.
What To Expect
We can expect Missouri to try to start fast with aggressive offense. However, Cuonzo Martin will attempt to slow the game down should the Rebels come out strong. Missouri has no problem with keeping the score low and still being able to close out games on the defensive end of the court. Of course, Missouri is a little easier to scout than Ole Miss at this point.
As for Ole Miss there is no doubt Andy Kennedy and the Rebels will try to establish a fast scoring pace early. For Ole Miss basketball to be successful tonight the Rebels have to have strong guard play. Deandre Burnett will need a big game. Of course, Burnett will also need help from Terence Davis and Breein Tyree. Bruce Stevens will also have to play a big role in tonight’s match-up.
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Ole Miss basketball needs a win and they need a win tonight to get a grip on the 2017-18 season. The Rebels get their shot tonight against the Missouri Tigers in Oxford at The Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 8pm CT tonight. The game will be televised on the SEC Network. Hotty Toddy!