Mississippi guard Ladarius White (10) shoot past Southern guard Michael Harrel (5) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Oxford, Miss., Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014. Mississippi won 69-38. (Photo/Thomas Graning)
No upset this time in Oxford as the Rebels cruised to a win Thursday night over Southern University by a score of 69-38 in the first game of the Emerald Coast Classic. With the victory, the Rebels now move to 2-1 on the season.
After dropping the home opener to Charleston Southern last week, Ole Miss bounced back with a dominant defensive performance, holding Southern University to 28 percent shooting and forcing 22 turnovers.
The Rebels got out to a slow start early, only being up 15-10. They then went on a 22-5 run over the final 12:24 of the first half to go up 37-15.
Ole Miss cruised along in the second half with Southern never really threatening to get the game inside 20 points.
Head coach Andy Kennedy put 11 players into the game, and all 11 of them played more than ten minutes, but not one player played more than 22 minutes.
“It’s obvious that I’m still mixing and matching,” Kennedy said. “Now, I had a new guy to add in A.J. (senior forward Aaron Jones). Just trying to find the right combinations.”
All of those combinations Kennedy put in resulted in a smothering defense from the Rebels.
“I’ll tell you what, I’m proud of, really for six halves, how we’ve guarded,” Kennedy said. “Our field goal percentage defense is really the biggest barometer of whether or not you’re defending is around 30 percent.”
The offense never got into any consistent flow during the game. It was mainly due to the fact that Kennedy has been subbing many players in and out of the game. Ole Miss finished shooting 40 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from behind the arc.
Kennedy said it has been hard to find a rhythm, but he didn’t want to make the excuse of rotating guys in and out. He said it is mainly due to the fact that the execution on offense has been poor.
“We are not finishing shots, whether it be at the rim, through contact or open shots,” Kennedy said. “I know we are a much better 3-point shooting team than what we have shown throughout three games.”
Every player who stepped on the court tonight was able to score a basket. Leading the way was junior guard Stefan Moody with 13 points, and senior guard LaDarius White followed with 12 of his own.
A big part of the Rebels’ stingy defense and consistent production on offense the first three games has been White.
“I feel more confident in myself,” White said. “I think I’ve prepared myself well to have a good season, and I just want to be the best I can be.”
On the collective defense the Rebels have put together, White said it has been trust in each other and trust in the rotation that is going to be there to make this defense good.
“He’s a senior. We need him to play with consistency,” Kennedy said. “He’s had two good games in a row for us.”
Senior point guard Jarvis Summers only scored six points on the night, and that was due to early foul trouble and not being really assertive on the offensive end, going only 2-of-5 from the field. He did better at settling down in the second half, according to Kennedy.
The Rebels will be back in action on Sunday, as they take on Northern Arizona in the second game of the Emerald Coast Classic.
