With only six regular season games remaining Ole Miss basketball is running out of opportunities to even finish with a winning season.
The season has been tough for Ole Miss basketball (11-14, 4-8). Actually it has been a train-wreck and you can’t quit watching because you know it will probably get much worse. Right now the Ole Miss Rebels are on a 5 game losing streak and coming off an ugly 82-66 loss to LSU in Baton Rouge. Of course, the Rebels are 0-8 in true road games so it’s nice to get back home to Oxford.
The Arkansas Razorbacks (17-8, 6-6) come to The Pavilion riding a two game win streak. Their latest win was a 72-54 blowout over Vanderbilt in Fayetteville. Despite having a much better record than Ole Miss the Hogs are another SEC team which plays poorly on the road. We’ll have to see if Arkansas lives up to their 1-6 road record or not.
Of course, Arkansas is a very good team and loaded with talented top-shelf players. Coach Mike Anderson has done an excellent job of producing a fast team who can play very well on both ends of the court. The Hogs play well in transition and don’t commit many mistakes. They are a very fast shooting team who can shoot well and score bunches of points quickly. Lets take a look at some of their top players.
Scouting The Hogs
Ole Miss Rebels Basketball
The Arkansas Razorbacks are much like the other SEC teams which have somewhat struggled. They can play well enough at times to beat anybody but have had problems with consistency at times. Of course, when you scout the Hogs you only have to look at their team leaders to fully appreciate the threat they are.
Senior guard Jaylen Barford leads the Hogs in scoring averaging 18.7 points per game. He also leads the Hogs in steals with 1.2 per game. Barford also averages 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
Another key leader in the Hogs basketball cog is freshman forward Daniel Gafford. Gafford leads the Hogs in field goal percentage hitting 60.3% of his shots while averaging 11.2 points per game. He also leads the Hogs in rebounding with 6.1 boards per game.
Senior guard Daryl Macon leads Arkansas in assists with 4.0 per game. Macon also averages 17.4 points and 2.8 rebounds each outing. Then there is senior forward Dustin Thomas who leads the Hogs in 3-point field goal percentage hitting 50.0% of his attempts from the arc. Thomas averages 4.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.
What To Expect
We can expect Hogs coach Mike Anderson to attempt to play fast against Ole Miss. He knows if he plays the Rebels fast they are prone to committing both turnovers and fouls. If the Hogs do this and are able to produce points then Mike Anderson knows the Hogs have a good shot at taking home a victory.
As for Ole Miss we really can’t be sure what to expect from head coach Andy Kennedy. We have lost count of the different starting lineups this season. We have no idea if one Rebel hits in double digits or if there are three Rebels who do. We do know this, the Rebels don’t have a possible shot at winning unless they play better than the past 5 games.
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Of course, we don’t have to wait long to see which Ole Miss basketball team shows up Tuesday night at The Pavilion. The Ole Miss Rebels will host the Arkansas Razorbacks. Tip-off is set for 6pm CT and the game will be televised on the SEC Network. Good luck to the Rebels! Hotty Toddy!