With the win Saturday afternoon over Vanderbilt, coupled with losses by Texas A&M, Missouri and LSU later in the day, Ole Miss secured the six seed in the SEC Tournament.
The team that’s lost six of eight games since Feb. 11 is seeded sixth. Welcome to the SEC basketball tournament. Better yet for Ole Miss, the potential matchups are far from daunting.
The first opponent is to be determined for the Rebels, as they will face the winner of Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. Ole Miss just finished off Vanderbilt in the season finale, but also took down the Commodores in Nashville by 11 points.
Ole Miss played Mississippi State twice this season. The Bulldogs took the first matchup, when Marshall Henderson was serving a suspension. You can read about how Mississippi State used a 1-3-1 zone to shut down the Ole Miss offense here.
But in the second meeting – with Henderson – Ole Miss took home an 82-63 victory. If Mississippi State advances past Vanderbilt, it’ll be the first meeting between Henderson and Mississippi State head coach Rick Ray since this incident.
Looking ahead, Ole Miss would play the three seed, Georgia, if Ole Miss wins on Thursday. Georgia has surprised everyone by playing their way to a top-four seed. Ole Miss went to Georgia and lost earlier this year, but the potential matchup with the Bulldogs is more favorable than one with Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky or Florida, all of which were possible Friday matchups for Ole Miss.
As the six seed, Ole Miss will play in the last game of the night on Wednesday. It will start 25 minutes after the Alabama and LSU game, which begins at 6 p.m. CDT. Approximately, Ole Miss will start between 8:30 and 8:45 p.m. CDT.
— 11 Vanderbilt
In the first meeting with Vanderbilt, Ole Miss was a one-point favorite going into Nashville, and the Rebels came out with an 11-point win. Jarvis Summers had 16 to lead Ole Miss in that game, while Rod Odom had 18 for Vanderbilt.
In the second matchup this past Saturday, Ole Miss entered as six-point favorite and came away with a three point win. Marshall Henderson had 18 points and Dai-Jon Parker had 24 for Vanderbilt. In both games Ole Miss forced 17 turnovers.
If Vanderbilt moves past Mississippi State, they will be playing Ole Miss in their second game in as many days. Vanderbilt has just seven scholarship players and 10 total players. The Commodores depth issues could play a huge role. Kevin Stallings played just seven players in the first meeting with Ole Miss and nine in Saturday’s game.
— 14 Mississippi State
In game one, Ole Miss was favored by 3.5 points despite being on the road and without Marshall Henderson. Mississippi State came away with a four-point win after the Bulldogs shot 42 free throws to the Rebels 12. (Saturday Ole Miss got to the free throw line 39 times, Vanderbilt 16.) Craig Sword had an awesome stat line. He finished 0 of 7 from the floor, but had 15 points, all from the free throw line. He also had seven steals, five rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.
In game two, Ole Miss was an 11.5-point favorite, and came out with a 19-point win. Marshall Henderson and Jarvis Summers both had 19 points, while Sebastian Saiz and Aaron Jones combined for 21 rebounds.
— 3 Georgia
One of Ole Miss’ heartbreaking losses this season came at the hands of Georgia, when Charles Mann hit a free throw with under two seconds to play to win 61-60. Georgia entered that game as a 3.5-point favorite. Kenny Gaines had 21 points on 6 of 11 shooting for Georgia, and Henderson had 24 on 6 of 13 shooting for Ole Miss.
The significance of the point spreads is this: In Ole Miss’ SEC games, the favorite has only lost once – the first meeting with Mississippi State. Ole Miss will likely be favored against Mississippi State or Vanderbilt. If they advance, Georgia would likely be a small favorite, but Georgia is 4-10 away from their home stadium of Stegeman Coliseum. The Tournament is in Atlanta, Ga. at the Georgia Dome, which is about an hour and a half away from the Bulldogs home gym.
— Tyler Bischoff
tfbischo@go.olemiss.edu
