Ole Miss Basketball: Rebels Hoops Fall Big At Miss State
Just when things couldn’t get much worse for Ole Miss basketball they had to make the trip down to Starkville to take on Miss State.
From most Ole Miss basketball fans point of view we would just really be glad for this season to be over. It hasn’t been remotely fun to watch as they have struggled to find consistency on both ends of the court. Now, when it couldn’t get any worse the Ole Miss Rebels (11-16, 4-10) had to face the Miss State Bulldogs (19-8, 7-7) in Starkville. Of course, playing on the road is a tough gig for this Ole Miss team.
I know it’s getting old hearing about how bad we are doing as a basketball program. Trust me it really hasn’t been much fun writing about it either. Anyway the season was already bad before the trip south this past weekend. Between the MSU game and the fallout surrounding AK the following day it’s safe to say we lost twice.
A 17 point loss is never something easy to write about. In this case it was a very ugly game and the repercussions were even uglier. This game was the sum of the entire season for Ole Miss basketball. However, we have to look at the game by the numbers to see exactly how bad it really was on the floor. Of course, the numbers aren’t very pretty. Let’s take a look.
Team Numbers
Ole Miss Rebels Basketball
With a 79-62 loss at the hands of your in-state rival you really can’t expect the numbers to be very good. The Rebels continue to take bad shots, make too many fouls and commit way too many turnovers.
To say the Bulldogs dominated the Rebels is an understatement. The Rebels didn’t help matters with very poor shooting from the field. Ole Miss shot just 41.1% from the field going 23 of 56 while MSU hit 31 of 55 for 56.6%.
The majority of the damage suffered at the hands of the Bulldogs from beyond the arc. Miss State shot 12 of 23 for 52.2% while Ole Miss only hit 7 of 23 for 30.4% from 3-point distance.
The one bright spot in the game for the Rebels came from the free-throw line. Ole Miss shot 9 of 11 for 81.8% while Miss State was only 5 of 11 from the charity stripe for 45.5%. Of course, we would like to see the Rebels go to the line more than they did in this game.
Although the Rebels did out-rebound the Bulldogs, MSU did score 17 points off the 14 turnovers committed by the Rebels. The Rebels have to learn to make better decisions with the ball or they will continue to see blowouts.
Individual Rebels Numbers
On the night the Rebels had three players score in double-digits. Sophomore Breein Tyree led all Rebels in scoring against the Bulldogs. Tyree had 15 points to go with his 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 steal. Senior Deandre Burnett added 13 points with 2 assists and 1 steal. Junior Bruce Stevens had 11 points while also grabbing 4 boards. Stevens also had 1 assist.
Graduate transfer Markel Crawford added 7 points while pulling down 9 boards. Junior Terence Davis had 6 points while getting 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Senior Marcanvis Hymon had 5 points with 3 rebounds. Senior Justas Furmanavicius added 3 points while grabbing 5 boards and also had an assists. Freshman Devontae Shuler finished up the Rebels scoring with 2 points. Shuler also had 2 rebounds.
Up Next
Lets see for a second. 4-10 in SEC play….check. Interim head coach….check. 0-9 in road games….check. What could be missing? Oh wait, road game in Columbia, Missouri….check. If it sounds like a recipe for disaster then you know where Ole Miss basketball truly is right now. No sense in beating a dead bear over it. Interim head coach Tony Madlock has his work cut out for him with this game.
There is no way to describe just how badly Ole Miss basketball needs a win. Not just a win but a road win. With four games left in the regular season there is this trip to Missouri and then Tennessee in Oxford. The following week they on the road in Lexington before returning to Oxford to take on Vandy. If Ole Miss is going to get a win they need to hurry. If Ole Miss expects to get a road win this season they had better make it against the Tigers tomorrow night.
Next: AK's Top 5 Greatest Moments!
Ole Miss basketball travels to Columbia, Missouri to take on the Missouri Tigers (18-8, 8-6). Tip-off is set for 8 pm CT and the game will be televised on ESPN2. Good luck to coach Madlock and the Ole Miss Rebels. Hotty Toddy!