The Ole Miss men’s basketball team struggled through their exhibition with USC-Aiken, but eventually, they picked up a victory in overtime on Friday night, 75-70.
Senior guard Marshall Henderson began his suspension, and the Rebel offense struggled immensely from his absence. They scored .91 points per possession; only once last year did they have an offensive game worse than that.
Ole Miss attempted just 11 3-pointers and made two, which would both have been season lows last year. Henderson attempted at least 12 threes 16 times last season.
“Our problem was offensively, and some of that was my fault, quite frankly,” head coach Andy Kennedy said. “We’re all paranoid with technology. We didn’t want to show a lot offensively, so we just kinda stayed to a simple ball screen and motion. As a result, I thought we were a little bit stagnant.”
Four Rebels reached double-digits in scoring. Sophomore guard Derrick Millinghaus led the way with 15, while junior guards Jarvis Summers and LaDarius White both added 13, and junior forward Demarco Cox pitched in 11.
Ole Miss was helped at the free throw line, especially in overtime. The Rebels made just one field goal in the extra session, but went to the free throw line 13 times, knocking down nine of them. Five different Rebels made a free throw in overtime.
One encouraging stat for the offense, was the number of free throws the point guards attempted. Summers and Millinghaus went to line a combined 21 times, although they only made 14. Last year, the two combined to shoot 5.5 free throws per game
Kennedy made sure to get a lot of players involved in the exhibition. Nine players played at least 10 minutes, seven played at least 20.
“I was trying to get some guys some minutes. (Aaron Jones) hadn’t played since last February,” Kennedy said. “I thought it was great that Demarco (Cox) played. I thought he got better as the game went along.”
The Ole Miss defense looked much better than the offense. They held USC-Aiken to .79 points per possession and under 40 percent shooting from the field.
Ole Miss did struggle defending the Pacers on the dribble, however. USC-Aiken consistently got into the lane with the drive, and they attempted 29 of their 58 field goals from the paint, which they turned into 32 points.
In his debut, freshman forward Sebastian Saiz got the most playing time of any freshman. He scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds in 24 minutes. Saiz had a chance to win the game on the final possession of regulation, but his dunk attempted was blocked by Alvin Brown.
The only Rebel who had double-digit rebounds was sophomore guard Martavious Newby, with 12. Newby was inserted into the starting lineup in place of the suspended Henderson.
“He’s got a great desire; that’s the reason he’s starting,” Kennedy said. “He’s earned his way into that starting lineup because of the things he’s doing in those effort areas.”
USC-Aiken, of the Peach Belt Conference in Division II, went 25-8 last season and were eliminated in the elite eight of the Division II tournament. They are ranked sixth in the current coaches’ poll for Division II and received 16 first place votes.
They are a veteran team, as 10 of their 13 players are seniors. The only senior for Ole Miss is Henderson.
Ole Miss will get the regular season started when they host Troy on Friday, Nov. 8.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss men’s basketball, follow @Tyler_RSR and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
— Tyler Bischoff
