A chilling silence quickly spread across The Pavilion in the early minutes of the second half of a game between Ole Miss and Tennessee Tuesday night. Rasheed Brooks collapsed and fell to the floor seizing during a timeout. Paramedics rushed onto the court as his body contorted and carted him off on a stretcher. His teammates huddled together with tears in their eyes just a few feet away from their teammate and attempted to re-group as Brooks was taken off and transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital.
“It was scary. We were walking towards the huddle, and he starts shaking,” senior forward Sebastian Saiz said. “We didn’t know what was going on. He wasn’t responding and he was shaking. Guys were crying. We were scared for his life.”
Head coach Andy Kennedy said after the game that Brooks was stable, conscious and undergoing further testing. He said Brooks had no memory of what transpired and, to his knowledge, had not had problems with seizures before.
Ole Miss men’s basketball defeats the Tennessee Volunteers 80-69 at the Pavilion on Tues., Jan. 17.
Breein Tyree dribbles the ball towards the basket.
“I haven’t seen a lot of seizures in my life. I’m sure I’ve seen a few, but it scared us to death. I had never really seen anything like it. I was literally just talking to him, and then I turned my back and I thought he was cramping. It was almost like he had a back cramp,” Kennedy said. “He was contorting, and then he rolled over and you could see he was in a full-blown seizure.”
Just a few moments later, the Rebels found themselves back on the court trailing the Volunteers in a game that was tied 38-38 at the half. Tennessee hit the Rebels with a 13-1 run coming out of halftime to take a 52-39 lead.
“It scared us to death. Obviously, we didn’t respond very good from a basketball standpoint,” Kennedy said. “We were all in a funk. Guys were crying. It was a pretty dramatic event. Thankfully, they had the fortitude to pull it together and play with a passion.”
The loss left Ole Miss with just seven available players left to finish a game. The Rebels were in a mess of foul trouble and down 13 points while staring straight in the face at their fifth SEC loss in six tries. But the shorthanded Rebels responded and erased the deficit en route to a 80-69 win over the Volunteers to improve to 11-7 (2-4).
“For about a month I’ve tried everything that I can think of to stop us from being so self-absorbed. Certainly, it is the nature of our culture today, especially the age group of kids that I have. They’re self absorbed thinking about me, me, me,” Kennedy said. “We’ve challenged them to get out of themselves and to start thinking about others and the team. When something so dramatic occurs, it truly shocks you and forces you to stop thinking about dribbling the ball out of bounds, or missing a block, or missing a free throw. It put our focus elsewhere.”
Ole Miss men’s basketball defeats the Tennessee Volunteers 80-69 at the Pavilion on Tues., Jan. 17, 2017.
Terence Davis dribbles the ball towards the basket.
Already without leading scorer Deandre Burnett – who missed his second consecutive game with a sprained ankle – Ole Miss picked up the slack by committee. Four different guys scored at least 15 points. Terence Davis led the Rebels with 20. Saiz added 17 and became the sixth player in history to record 1,000 points and 800 rebounds in his career. Justas Furmanavicius and Breein Tyree scored 15 respectively. The Rebels manufactured 80 points despite shooting just 1-14 from three-point range and missing 15 free throws. Ole Miss scored the bulk of its points in transition, capitalizing in the open floor as well as taking advantage of the Vols doubling Saiz every time he touched in the post.
“Once we started having a little bit of success, really in the open floor, we got some stops that allowed us to get in the open floor,” Kennedy said. “TD (Terence Davis) made plays in the open floor. Breein (Tyree) made plays in the open floor. Justas made plays in the open floor. We got them spread, and that energy carried us home.”
The Rebels forced 12 Tennessee turnovers and scored 42 points in the paint, and it proved to be enough to overcome the latest dose of adversity the team was given.
“We are who we are right now. We don’t have a lot of bodies,” Kennedy said.
Ole Miss overcame a slew of fouls early on that got its already-thin bench even further engaged in the game. Guys stepped up and made plays when called upon. Tyree’s 15 points and six assists gave Ole Miss a point guard it had been lacking and was desperately trying to find. Ole Miss had a 50-42 advantage on the glass, and it all equated to its second SEC win.
“I thought Breein Tyree really grew up today. In the second half he really made some plays for us, was strong at the rim, finished through contact,” Kennedy said. “I thought he really grew up tonight, which I think is a great indication of his future moving forward. We just needed a win, and the only way we can win is get back to our formula.”
