Ole Miss Basketball: Kermit Davis And Rebels Ready For Tourney
Well the time has come for SEC Coach of the Year Kermit Davis and No.8 seed Ole Miss basketball to make a run in the NCAA Tourney.
March Madness has finally arrived and No.8 seed Ole Miss basketball (20-12) are heading to Columbia, South Carolina to open the NCAA Tourney. The Rebels will be opening the tourney against the No.9 seed Oklahoma Sooners (19-13) which could be a tough test for the Rebels. However, it is a good test for first year head coach Kermit Davis and a relatively young Rebels team.
The Rebels enter the 2019 NCAA Tourney coming off a disappointing 62-57 loss against Alabama in the SEC Tourney but have had a phenomenal season and are looking for a strong postseason run. It begins Friday against the No.9 seed Sooners and we know they have as much or more at stake as they hunt their 20th win. The Sooners enter the tourney on a 72-71 loss to West Virginia in the Big12 Tourney. OHT takes a closer look at the Sooners and their key players.
Sooners Key Players
Ole Miss Rebels
Coached by Lon Krugger the Sooners are a very well-coached and talented Big12 team. OU depends on a number of great players who saw them thru the 72-71 loss to West Virginia in the Big12 Championship game. Leading the Sooners in scoring is senior guard Christian James who averages 14.4 points per game. James also averages 6.3 boards and 1.8 feeds per game and has a 41.0% field goal percentage.
The Sooners leading rebounder is junior forward Kristian Doolittle who averages 7.0 boards per game. Doolittle also averages 11.2 points and 1.5 assists per game while hitting 50.2% of his shots from the field. Assists leader for the OU Sooners is freshman guard Jamal Bieniemy who averages 3.5 feeds per game. Beiniemy also averages 4.9 points and 2.4 boards per game. Bieniemy also leads the Sooner in steals with 1.4 takeaways per game.
Other Sooners to watch for are sophomore forward Brady Manek and senior guard Aaron Carlixte. Manek averages 12 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while Carlixte averages 7.0 points, 1.8 boards and 2.1 assists per game.
Observations
The 2018-19 Ole Miss basketball season has been a special one and there is little disputing that. However, the Rebels have a Big12 foe in Oklahoma who is playing very good basketball as of late. The Sooners are a very long team who is very tough in the paint so the Rebels
From what we’ve seen from the Rebels this season they have to play aggressive and smart minimizing turnovers and play good in the paint on both ends of the court in order to secure the win and move to the next round to likely face South Region No.1 seed Virginia.
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Coach Kermit Davis and No.8 seed Ole Miss basketball will open their 2019 NCAA Tourney this Friday when they take on No.9 seed Oklahoma. Tipoff from Columbia, South Carolina is set for 11:40am CT and the game can be viewed via truTV. Good luck to coach Kerm and the Rebels in the Big Dance! Hotty Toddy!