It’s taken just two games for Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis to have an epiphany about his team.
“I think we have a chance to be an elite defensive team before the year runs out,” he said Saturday night after a 78-58 win over UNC Wilmington.
The Rebels will try to continue on that path Monday night when they host Central Arkansas in another non-conference matchup in Oxford, Miss.
Thus far, Ole Miss (2-0) has shown signs of being a team that can hang its hat on defense. Opponents have managed just 51.5 points per game and are connecting on only 35.0 percent of their field goal attempts.
In addition, the Rebels have forced 45 turnovers and put the opposition at the line just 31 times, an indicator that they are playing hard but clean basketball. The admittedly small sample size is at least an encouraging one to Davis.
“I was proud of our win, rebounding the ball,” he said after the UNCW game, in which the Rebels outrebounded the Seahawks 40-26. “We took advantage of mismatches.”
Romello White delivered 20 points on just eight shot attempts for Ole Miss, which also got a 14-point, 12-rebound effort from Luis Rodriguez. The Rebels earned a whopping 50-20 advantage in paint points over their Colonial Athletic Association foe.
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Three-year starter Devontae Shuler is Ole Miss’ leading scorer at 20.5 points per game. Shuler is 16 of 25 from the field in two games, draining 7 of 11 3-pointers (63.6 percent).
As for Central Arkansas (0-4), it’s off to a rough start that might only get rougher. Its 100-75 defeat Saturday night at Arkansas started a three-game road trip through the SEC West, not exactly an easy task for a Southland Conference program.
The Bears produced an inspired effort for most of their first meeting with the Razorbacks in 73 years. They led for most of the first half and were still within six points at the 9:45 mark of the second half before the deeper, stronger opponent wore them down.
“It was great that we were able to compete as well as we did for as long as we did,” said Central Arkansas coach Anthony Boone. “It shows the growth of our program, and hopefully we’ll continue to take steps to continue that growth.”
Rylan Bergersen is the Bears’ leading scorer at 16.3 points per game. They are surrendering an average of 89.8 points per game.
–Field Level Media
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Pick: Under 155 Points -120