Graphic By Tyler Bischoff | The Daily Mississippian
Coming off its first road win in Southeastern Conference play this past weekend, the Ole Miss men’s basketball team looks to grab another road contest, as the Rebels face the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville tonight.
The Rebels (12-5, 3-1 SEC) go into the contest with a two-game winning streak, while the Commodores (9-7, 1-3 SEC) are coming off of a demoralizing loss against LSU, 81-58.
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series against Ole Miss 74-41. However, the Rebels have won the past two matchups between the teams, including last year’s overtime thriller that saw senior guard Marshall Henderson hit a long buzzer beater to send the game into overtime.
Henderson is once again leading Ole Miss offensively, as the Hurst, Texas, native is averaging 19.2 points per game. Henderson is knocking down 38.3 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Junior guard Jarvis Summers has been the real surprise for Ole Miss this season, as his scoring average has doubled since last season. His field goal percentage is up 11.2 percent (51.6 percent from 40.4 percent), and his 3-point field goal percentage has risen 19.6 percentage points (53.4 percent from 34.0 percent) over last year’s totals. Summers is averaging nine points per game more than last season and is currently averaging 18.1 points per game for the Rebels, which ranks eighth in the SEC.
Now, head coach Andy Kennedy is looking for a consistent third scorer. Against LSU, freshman forward Sebastian Saiz scored 20 points and collected nine rebounds. In Ole Miss’ next game at South Carolina, sophomore forward Anthony Perez stepped up and scored 22.
For Vanderbilt, forward Rod Odom is the leading scorer, averaging 14.3 points per game. Odom will be the biggest challenge for Ole Miss, as the 6-foot-9 senior is shooting 45.7 percent from behind the arc. The Rebels have struggled defending stretch forwards since last year.
At times, Ole Miss has struggled defensively this season, but blocking shots has been the calling card for the Rebels thus far. Ole Miss leads the SEC in blocks and ranks third in the nation, averaging 7.1 blocked shots per game. Junior forward Aaron Jones ranks third in the league and 32nd in the nation, averaging 2.6 blocked shots per game, while junior center Demarco Cox is tied for ninth in the conference, averaging 1.3 blocked shots per game.
Tipoff is at 8 p.m. from Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, and the game will be televised by CSS.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss men’s basketball, follow @thedm_sports on Twitter.
— Tyler Carter
tcarter@go.olemiss.edu
