No.18 Ole Miss basketball was back in action in a Tuesday night midweek SEC game as they hosted the LSU Tigers in The Pavilion.
Recently ranked No.18 Ole Miss basketball (13-3, 3-1) was back at home in Oxford Tuesday night as they faced the Louisiana State Tigers (13-3, 3-0) in The Pavilion. Ole Miss was coming off a huge SEC road win over then No.14 in-state rival Miss State. LSU came into the matchup off their own SEC road win over Arkansas.
Despite a double-double from senior guard Terence Davis and the momentum the Rebels had coming into the game Ole Miss and LSU found themselves deadlocked at the break at 31points.In the tale of two halves the Tigers had their way with the second outscoring the Rebels 52-38 and picking up the 14 point LSU win in an ugly 83-69 decision.
We can look at the game by the numbers and see where the Rebels faulted against the Tigers. In the previous three SEC games we watched as the Rebels made minimal mistakes and controlled the flow of the game. Tonight wasn’t the case for the Rebels but we will get to that in our observations. For now we look at the stats but it all adds up.
By The Numbers
Ole Miss Rebels
As a team Ole Miss basketball had a very bad night statically and the Rebels were outplayed in almost ever major statistical category on the evening. Ole Miss shot just .406 from the field while allowing .474 from the Tigers. The Tigers also shot .474 from beyond the arc while the Rebels shot only .286 from the same range. Both Ole Miss and LSU shot poorly from the charity stripe with the Rebels hitting just .529 of their free throws while LSU shot slightly better at .667 from the line.
The Rebels one bright spot was rebounding where they upped the Tigers 42-40 in that department. However the Rebels had 16 turnovers compared to just 13 by the Tigers. Each team played well defensively creating steals. The Rebels had 8 steals while the Tigers had 10 takeaways in the game.
Individual Rebels Numbers
Against LSU there were three Rebels who scored in double-digits. Leading all Rebels was senior Terence Davis who had a double-double scoring 27 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in the game. Davis also had 3 assists and 2 steals. Freshman KJ Buffen added 13 points while pulling down 5 boards. Buffen also had 1 assist and 3 steals. Junior Breein Tyree added 12 points to go with 2 rebounds and 1 assist on the night.
Observations
The Rebels are still a good team who just had a bad night. Ole Miss basketball continues to have way too many turnovers and missed shots. Against LSU the Rebels defense lacked and with the poor shooting and decision-making the Rebels simply couldn’t stay in the game when it mattered most. Of course, coach Kermit Davis and the Rebels will have a chance to use this loss as a good learning tool.
No loss is a good loss but if there was such a case this might be it. No.18 Ole Miss basketball was in the national spotlight but that was before the most unproductive night in SEC play of the season for the Rebels. There is no doubt coach Kermit Davis was not pleased with this team’s performance and it will be used as a hard lesson.
Coach Kermit Davis and the Rebels will have a chance to bounce back this Saturday as the face the Arkansas Razorbacks in The Pavilion. Please be sure to check back here at OHT for the Ole Miss/Arkansas preview coming soon or visit and like the OHT Facebook page and follow us on Twitter. Hotty Toddy!