(Photo: Logan Kirkland)
It’s been an emotional 72 hours for Ole Miss basketball, and it showed at times on Saturday night, but in the end, the Rebels found a way to top Georgia 72-71
“I thought we were really fatigued,” Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy said. “ I thought we were a step slow based off not only the toughness of the game Thursday, but the emotion that was spent.”
It was the Rebels second win in 48 hours as they improve to 12-3 on the year and 2-1 in SEC play.
It didn’t come easy though. Ole Miss overcame a nine point second half deficit, and trailed by as many as 13 in the half before mounting the comeback. The Rebels trailed by one with 12 seconds remaining in the game when Stefan Moody split a double team to get into the lane, and put up a layup that would fall with 3.8 seconds left and ended up being the game winner.
“It was kind of a broken play. I tried to throw it to AP. He kind of fumbled it and threw it back to me, and their defense was a little stagnant, and I just attacked the basket.” Moody said of the play.
He led all scorers with 29 points and seven assists on the night.
Kennedy added that he initially wanted to call timeout before the play happened, but by rule only players can call a timeout in the final two minutes of the half.
“When Moody was coming down I saw we had no spacing. From my vantage point Moody had a guy on him and there was nowhere to go,” Kennedy said. “So I was going to call timeout.”
But Moody was able to split the double team and get the ball into his right hand and make a play.
“I said ‘hey there is nothing more we can ask for,’” Kennedy said “He got right and is strong as an ox. He turns that corner, and players make plays.”
After Ole Miss out to an early 15-5 lead, Georgia proceeded to go on a 27-8 run and on their way to a 44-35 halftime lead.
The Bulldogs dominated the rebounding department earlier and their halftime lead was largely because numbers second points opportunities, as they out rebounded Ole Miss 23-16 in the first half.
“We were down seven on the glass at the half, and I said if we win the battle of the boards we will win this game,” Kennedy said.
That is exactly what the Rebels did out rebounding Georgia 28-17 in the second half that helped them erase the deficit and notch their second win in SEC play.
The Georgia lead got as big as 49-36 with 17:50 to play, but the Rebels kept chipping away and finally tied the game at 62 with 5:47 left, and took a 63-62 lead just 30 seconds later before Moody’s game ending heroics.
Rasheed Brooks and Sebastian Saiz each had 14 in the end. Brooks hit three shots from behind the three point line, including two crucial ones in the second half, one of which came with less than a minute to play.
“He made huge plays. He’s growing up,” Kennedy said of Brooks.
“For us to continue to stay the course, and get stop after stop, and under 90 seconds to play make a play, and you win in that dramatic of a fashion, what a 72 hours for Ole Miss basketball.”
