Beating a team that was 7-9 and 0-3 in the SEC shouldn't be a big deal, but there was a context to Ole Miss' trip to Columbia, South Carolina, that adds significance to Saturday's 75-74 escape of the Gamecocks.
First, the eventual SEC Champion Rebels lost to an equally bad South Carolina team a year ago, giving themselves a huge black eye headed into March and causing many to pronounce Ole Miss' season dead. The Rebels didn't take care of business that day, and nearly cost themselves a post-season. Of course, everyone was wrong about the season being over, but it was a devastating loss at the time - and nearly unthinkable given how bad South Carolina was.
On Saturday Ole Miss, with 4 non-conference losses and a loss to Mississippi State, returned to South Carolina for a conference road game it could ill-afford to lose. And down 12 in the 2nd half it looked like the Rebels were going to choke away another one to the lowly Gamecocks, but this time the Rebels didn't. When it mattered Ole Miss players made plays and hit shots. Sophomore Anthony Perez had a career day with 22 points. Over the last two games Ole Miss is starting to look like a team with more than just Jarvis Summers and Marshall Henderson. Now there's a Sebastian Saiz (20 points against LSU) and Perez. It seems like the Rebels luck is improving right along with their depth.
The win over South Carolina was just one win, but it's a win Ole Miss needed. Now the Rebels need to go to Nashville Wednesday, where they'll face a very beatable Vanderbilt (9-7, 1-3 SEC) that lost to LSU 81-58 Saturday. There Ole Miss will have a chance to put together a 3-game winning streak before returning home for a revenge game against Mississippi State followed by Tennessee and South Carolina - more winnable games. The Rebels have a chance to put together a good winning streak to end the month of January.
Andy Kennedy said before the season that for his Ole Miss teams making or missing the NCAA Tournament is and has always been all about taking care of business in SEC play. Ole Miss took care of business on Saturday. If the Rebels can continue to do that over the next few games the NCAA Tournament will be a realistic discussion in February.
That's exactly where we want the Rebels to be.