SEC Coach of the Year Kermit Davis and Ole Miss basketball were back in action Thursday night in Nashville for the SEC Tourney.
Ole Miss basketball (20-12, 10-8) was back in action Thursday night as they began their SEC Tourney against Alabama (18-14, 8-10). SEC Coach of the Year Kermit Davis and the Rebels found the going tough and fell 62-57 and were forced to make an early exit out of the SEC Tourney and Nashville.
Despite Alabama getting on the board first the Rebels dominated the first half leading by as many as 16 points. The Rebels took 38-24 lead into the locker room at the break. The second half was a completely different game for the Rebels as the Tide came back to out-score Ole Miss 38-19 and pick up the 62-57 Bama win. OHT looks at the game by the numbers.
By The Numbers
Ole Miss Rebels
Naturally when you look at a loss by the numbers they may not look very good as was the case Thursday night. As a team the Rebels shot just .381 from the field while Bama shot .407. From beyond the arc the Rebels shot just .269 while the Tide shot .294 from three-point range.
Both the Rebels and Bama shot just .500 from the charity stripe. Bama out-rebounded the Rebels 50 to 30 while creating 9 Rebels turnovers with 7 steals. The Rebels created 16 Tide turnovers and had 5 steals.
Individual Rebels Numbers
Thursday night there were 2 Rebels who scored in double digits. Leading all Rebels was sophomore Devontae Shuler who had 14 points. Shuler also had 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots.
Senior Bruce Stevens added 12 points with 1 rebound, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot. Freshman Blake Hinson added 9 points while freshman KJ Buffen added 8 points. Hinson added 6 rebounds while Buffen had 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 blocked shot. Junior Breein Tyree had 7 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot.
Observations
There is really no disputing how bad the Rebels looked and the numbers show it. To blow a 16 point lead was rough and then to lose makes it even worse. However, when you honestly look at the numbers you have wonder how either team could win? Ole Miss basketball will be waiting to find their landing spot in the NCAA Tourney but what we do know is the Rebels two best players will have to combine for more than 10 points. Whatever the problem was Thursday night will have to be fixed or the Rebels won’t see much March Madness.
So we await ‘Selection Sunday’ and see what lies in store for coach Kermit Davis and Ole Miss basketball during the postseason. More to come soon. Hotty Toddy.