SEC Coach of the Year Kermit Davis and the No.8 seed Rebels were back in action Friday as they opened for what they hoped was a NCAA tourney run.
Coach Kermit Davis and No.8 seed Ole Miss basketball (20-13) were back in action Friday as they opened the NCAA Tourney in Columbia, South Carolina. The Rebels opened the tourney against the No.9 seed Oklahoma Sooners (20-13) and were looking for a magical NCAA Tourney run which couldn’t be found.
The Sooners got off to a 12-0 lead in the Rebels NCAA Tourney opener and Ole Miss couldn’t catch up. Hot shooting Oklahoma took a 50-33 lead into the locker room at the break. In the second half the Rebels played better but were outscored 45-39 and the Sooners picked up the 95-72 opening round win. OHT looks at the season ending loss by the numbers.
By The Numbers
Ole Miss Rebels
As a team the Rebels shot .468 from the field while the Sooners shot .576 from inside the arc. From beyond the arc the .355 while Oklahoma shot .462 from 3-point range. From the charity stripe the Rebels shot .750 while Oklahoma shot .808 from the free-throw line.
The Rebels were out-rebounded 31-30 by the Sooners while Oklahoma forced 11 Rebels turnovers with 10 steals. The Rebels forced only 4 Sooner turnovers with 1 steal. Undersized against Oklahoma the Rebels were severely out-matched in the paint.
Individual Rebels Numbers
Against Oklahoma there were four Rebels who scored in double digits. Senior Terence Davis led all Rebels scoring with 17 points. Davis also 5 boards, 6 assists and 1 blocked shot.
Sophomore Devontae Shuler added 13 points with 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. Freshman Blake Hinson added 11 points with 6 rebounds and 1 blocked shot while junior Breein Tyree added 10 points with 1 rebound and 1 assist.
Observations
It was as obvious Friday in the Rebels NCAA Tourney opener as it was in the SEC Tourney Ole Miss was playing out of sync. Despite being undersized the Rebels didn’t play with the same desire and momentum we saw during the season against other long teams like Tennessee and Kentucky. There is no disputing what the Rebels did during the season and hitting the 20 win mark with a NCAA Tourney selection under a first year head coach speaks volumes for the program.
Even though the Rebels departed the NCAA Tourney in the opening round coach Kermit Davis and the Rebels had a great season. Congrats to coach Kermit Davis and Ole Miss basketball and thanks for the memories. Hotty Toddy!