Saturday, January 25, 2014

Rebels Muzzle the Bulldogs

Ole Miss steam-rolled Mississippi State 82-63 to the delight of a sold out Tad Smith Coliseum. Marshall Henderson and Jarvis Summers led the Rebels with 19 points each. Snoop White scored 11, Anthony Perez 9 and Aaron Jones 8. Sebastian Saiz grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.


The Rebels got payback for a 4-point loss in Starkville, but more importantly they've now won 4 straight, improving to 14-5 and 5-1 in the SEC. Ole Miss is on a roll, and while Henderson and Summers are fun to watch, it's the development of the rest of the team that is so encouraging. As long as White, Perez, Saiz and Jones are playing at the level they played today the Rebels are going to be a tough team to beat.

With his ability to hit the three and drive the basket, Perez displays flashes of basketball brilliance that are enough to slack-jaw even the most cynical fan. He did both today with a Jordanesque drive and a shot 2 of 3 from 3-point range. Perez is becoming the player Kennedy hoped he would be when Kennedy signed him two years ago. Likewise, the big Spaniard Sebastian Saiz is getting more and more difficult for opposing bigs to handle underneath. White is settling in and taking advantage of opportunities that come his way instead of trying to force it. These guys, along with Jones, who had 9 rebounds, are difference-makers for Ole Miss and the way they play will determine how for the Rebels go this year.

I was also impressed by Henderson looking to spread the ball around. He created a Perez trey when he drove the basket and kicked it out to the lanky Venezuelan.

Henderson finished the day 7 of 17 from the field and 2 of 12 from 3-point range. While it wasn't a great 3-point performance, Henderson showed off his ability to create shots inside and drive the lane. If he continues to develop that opposing defenses will have to play him more honest on the outside.

The Rebels travel to Knoxville Wednesday to take on the Tennessee Vols. It'll be another opportunity game for the Rebels, as Tennessee is one of the few SEC teams with a semi-decent RPI. A road win over the Vols would give Ole Miss a nice RPI boost and the NCAA talk would probably begin in earnest.

The most encouraging thing from the win over State though is that it appears as though Ole Miss is on an upward trajectory. The team just continues to improve each night out. As long as they're doing that there's reason to hope for more good things to come.