by Jake Adams
Sure, Ole Miss is 4-0 in the SEC for the first time since the jet engine was invented, but that's not what impressed me the most Saturday.
The most impressive thing about Ole Miss' 76-64 victory over Arkansas was that the Rebels won going away even though it wasn't their best day.
Marshall Henderson was 0-for-6 from three-point range in the 1st half. The team was 0-for-8. The Rebels shot just 40 percent from the field for the game. As a team the Rebels were just 14 of 23 from the free throw line.
The numbers certainly weren't as good as what Andy Kennedy said he had become accustomed.
But when the going got tough, and it did get tough when Arkansas closed a 9-point gap to tie the score at 52 with 10:09 to play, the Rebels stepped it up.
Henderson and Nick Williams hit back-to-back three's to open the lead back up and then Henderson hit another that seemed to put the game away at 67-54 with 6:54 remaining. It was a mini-barrage of three-pointers, and it was all Ole Miss needed to will its way to victory over the Razorbacks.
That's the thing about this team right now. It doesn't doubt itself even when the game is in question. We've seen it twice in one week now.
Arkansas coach Mike Anderson credited Ole Miss' age and experience. Holloway, Buckner and Williams are all seniors.
That may be part of it, but it seems like it has more to do with confidence, teamwork and a belief in each other.
After 17 games it's evident that this team is coming together.
For example, even though Henderson was 0-for-the-game from three-point range, Holloway said afterward that he knew Henderson's shots were going to fall eventually and they did.
The Rebels look like they are in sync on the floor now, too.
There was no finer example of that than when Henderson drove inside hard and kicked the ball out to an open Williams for one of his game-clinching three-point shots. Earlier in the season that might not have happened.
Whatever it is - age, experience, talent - the Rebels are playing their best basketball in conference play and that's the best part of the whole deal.
Ole Miss is 15-2, 4-0 in the SEC and getting recognition as a contender to actually win the conference. ESPN's Andy Katz tweeted yesterday that the SEC is fast becoming a two-horse race between the Rebels and Florida.
Ole Miss has won seven straight. The Rebels will most likely be a Top 25 team come Monday.
Ole Miss hosts Tennessee Thursday at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.
Until then it's all blue skies and sunshine in Oxford.
