The Ole Miss men’s basketball looks to complete the season sweep against No. 21 Missouri on the road this weekend. Tipoff is set for noon Saturday and will be televised on CBS.
Thomas Graning | The Daily Mississippian
Junior guard Marshall Henderon
Ole Miss (18-4, 7-2 SEC) will travel to Missouri on Saturday to take on the 21st-ranked Tigers in a rematch of a January contest that Ole Miss won 64-49.
Missouri was without leading scorer and second-leading rebounder Laurence Bowers in the first meeting. In his absence, Ole Miss senior forward Murphy Holloway took advantage with a game-high 22 points.
“I think they have a chip on their shoulder, which we will too,” Holloway said.
“We haven’t really proven ourselves.”
The Rebels’ win over the then-10th-ranked Tigers stands as their best win to date. Missouri is the only top-50 RPI team that Ole Miss has beaten this season.
Head coach Andy Kennedy sees Saturday as another big opportunity for his team.
“Looking forward to the challenge,” he said.
“They’re an excellent team. We are going to have to be on top of our game.”
Also in the first meeting, Missouri held SEC-leading scorer Marshall Henderson to just 11 points, his lowest point total in conference play.
The Ole Miss defense forced 19 Missouri turnovers and held the Tigers to just 2-of-18 shooting from 3-point range.
Ole Miss has been without senior guard Nick Williams for the last two games, as he recovers from a torn plantar fasciitis, which is a tendon in the foot.
Kennedy has said that Williams can’t injure it any worse, and that his return is all based on pain tolerance.
Williams went though some of the pre-game warm-ups Wednesday night but did not dress for the game.
“My hope is that he’ll be available Saturday, but I’m going to do what he tells me,” Kennedy said. “If he’s ready, I’ll put him in.”
Without Williams, the bench is filled with inexperience, as the top four players off the bench are freshmen.
Ole Miss announced on Twitter Thursday that junior forward Demarco Cox will miss the remainder of the season.
Cox suffered a stress fracture in his foot before the season started and re-injured it in the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii.
With a victory on Saturday, Kennedy would tie B.L. Graham for the most wins as an Ole Miss head coach at 144.
Tipoff is set for noon Saturday and will be televised on CBS.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss men’s basketball, follow @Tyler_RSR and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
