Coach Kermit Davis and No.20 Ole Miss basketball will be back in action Saturday as they face No.24 Iowa State in the SEC/Big12 Challenge.
Without a doubt the 2018-2019 Ole Miss basketball season has been exciting thus far. Coach Kermit Davis and the No.20 Rebels (14-4, 4-2) have already had a terrific season which has surpassed expectations of many Ole Miss basketball fans. Despite a couple of rough SEC losses the Rebels have shown they have a much improved team from last season.
This Saturday the No.20 Rebels will step out of SEC play to take part in the SEC/Big12 Challenge when they face No.24 Iowa State (14-5, 4-3) in Oxford. The Rebels saw a degree of success in their non-conference schedule to begin this season with their only losses coming to Butler and Cincinnati. The Rebels had wins over Baylor, Illinois State and Middle Tennessee State.
No.24 Iowa State has a very good team and the matchup won’t be an easy one for the Rebels. Of course, the Rebels are coming into the challenge off an ugly 21 point loss to Alabama while Iowa State enters Saturdays game coming off a 80-76 loss to No.9 Kansas. Lets take a closer look at Iowa State and their key players.
More On The Cyclones
Ole Miss Rebels
Coached by Steve Prohm the Cyclones have a very well-coached and talented team which currently sits at No.4 in the Big12 conference. The Cyclones have wins over Missouri, Oklahoma State X2, and then No.5 Kansas. Iowa State has losses to Iowa, Baylor, Kansas State and of course most recently No.9 Kansas.
Senior guard Marial Shayok leads the Cyclones in scoring averaging 19.8 points per game. Shayok also averages 5.3 boards and 1.9 assists per game. Junior forward Michael Jacobson is the rebound leader for the Cyclones averaging 6.4 boards per game. Jacobson also averages 13.1 points and 0.9 assists per game.
Freshman guard Tyrese Haliburton leads the Cyclones in both assists with 4.1 per game and in 3-point field goal percentage hitting .449% of his shots from beyond the arc. Haliburton averages 7.9 points and 3.8 boards per game.
Observations
After what we watched from the No.20 Ole Miss Rebels on the road against Alabama we have to wonder which coach Kermit Davis team we’ll see this Saturday. Will it be the 21 point loss team we watched Tuesday night or the team which drilled the Hogs last Saturday in Oxford? Having the home court advantage (8-1) has to play to the favor of Ole Miss but the Cyclones are not a team who the Rebels can toy around with regardless.
Iowa State is No.24 in the nation for very good reason. The Rebels three days to correct what was wrong in the Bama loss and coach Kermit Davis should have the Rebels ready to play. The Rebels will have to cut down the mistakes which lead to way too many turnovers and have to make their shots count against the Cyclones to avoid another loss.
Coach Kermit Davis and the No.20 Ole Miss Rebels will have a tough test Saturday when they face No.24 Iowa State. Tipoff from The Pavilion in Oxford is set for 11am CT and the game will be televised via ESPN. Good luck to coach Kermit Davis and the Rebels. GO SEC! Hotty Toddy!