Mississippi guard Jarvis Summers (32) drives the ball during an NCAA college basketball game in Oxford, Miss., Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014. (Photo/Ignacio Murillo)
Ole Miss almost blew it. They tried, but unlike previous nail-bitters, Ole Miss came out on top Thursday night with a 65-62 win over Auburn.
In the final minute, Ole Miss shot 3 of 7 from the free throw line, threw an inbounds pass away and fouled a 45 percent three point shooter on a three – KT Harrell made all three free throws.
But Ole Miss held on as Auburn’s only points in the final minute came on Harrell’s free throws.
“It was big sigh of relief. We’ve been losing a couple of games, Mercer and Dayton at the buzzer,” Aaron Jones said
Ole Miss has now played in 10 straight games decided by 10 points or less. Ole Miss is 6-4 in those games, and the Rebels had lost two of their last three games on three pointers at the buzzer.
Marshall Henderson did not play as he served another part of his suspension; he will miss Saturday’s game against Mississippi State as well.
But in his absence, the Rebels got balanced scoring as four players scored double-digits. Derrick Millinghaus led the team with 16 points. He was 5 of 11 from the field and knocked down four of his five free throws.
Jarvis Summers had one of his least efficient games as he shot 6 of 17 from the field. He wound up with 14 points and four assists.
“Jarvis has been our MVP from day one this season, and he did not have his best game,” head coach Andy Kennedy said. “He looked a little battle fatigued.”
Aaron Jones had his best game in while. Jones had been removed from the starting lineup for the last three games, but he was re-inserted and delivered 12 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and five steals.
For Ole Miss getting role players to step up and score without Henderson in the lineup is a step in the right direction.
“The only guy on this team that had the same role as last year is Marshall Henderson. Everybody else has an expanded role and with that comes more responsibility. You can’t look around and think somebody’s going to come bail me out. Now you’re the guy,” Kennedy said.
LaDarius White added 10 points and hit two threes while Auburn was in a 2-3 zone.
The Rebels struggled guarding Chris Denson, who had 28 points on 10 of 25 shooting. Denson entered the game as the second leading scorer in the SEC, behind his teammate Harrell.
“He’s very, very fast. We made it a point coming in understanding that KT Harrell and Chris Denson is the most dynamic scoring back court in our league and they didn’t let us down. They were very attack oriented,” Kennedy said.
But Ole Miss held him scoreless in the final six minutes of the second half. As a result, Auburn scored just seven points in those closing minutes.
The Rebels were outrebounded again. Auburn grabbed 40 boards to Ole Miss’ 30. The struggles on the defensive boards continue to glare; Auburn grabbed 19 offensive boards to Ole Miss’ 17 defensive boards. Allowing opponents to grab more than half of their own misses is not a recipe for success.
“Not only do we give them on shot or two shots, sometimes we give them three or four with our inability to come up and secure a ball,” Kennedy said.
Ole Miss did hold Auburn to 13 points on those 19 offensive rebounds. Allowing .68 points per possession on those second-chance opportunities helps negate the deficiency.
With Anthony Perez out with a shoulder injury he sustained in practice – Kennedy is hopeful he will return Saturday – Janari Joesaar received nine minutes of playing time. Joesaar hit a three on his first possession and finished with five points and here rebounds in nine minutes. He hadn’t played since Nov. 26.
Anthony Perez wasn’t the only injured Rebel, as Henderson was taken to the hospital earlier this week after sustaining a neck injury in a rebounding drill, according to Kennedy.
Next up Ole Miss travels to Starkville to take on Mississippi State on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU as Ole Miss looks to start 2-0 in the SEC without Marshall Henderson.
Quotable
“We help him on defense, but that’s how I get most of my blocks.” – Aaron Jones on Marshall Henderson.
“Welcome to my world.” – Andy Kennedy on Sebastian Saiz trying to check in without a jersey.
Tyler Bischoff
— tfbischo@go.olemiss.edu
