The Ole Miss basketball team, while shorthanded, has an opportunity to make an impression with the national media and NCAA Tournament selectors tonight when they play No. 4 Kentucky.
Kentucky’s freshman guard John Wall might receive most of the national recognition for the Wildcats, but the Rebels – sans freshman Reginald Buckner – will have to focus on shoring up their post defense, which was exploited by Arkansas Sunday night.
“[Buckner] is without question our most physical, our most athletic defensive presence at the basket,” Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy said.
Buckner sprained his ankle in the No. 25 Rebels’ victory over Auburn on Thursday, and he will not be available tonight.
“He’s making progress, but it is still day-to-day,” Kennedy said.
The Razorbacks overwhelmed Ole Miss (16-5, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) in the paint on Sunday. Senior center Mike Washington scored 22 points and freshman Marshawn Powell added 19 in Arkansas’ seven-point win.
The Rebels generally play a four-man rotation in the post with Buckner joining Murphy Holloway, DeAundre Cranston and Terrance Henry. Buckner’s absence increases the necessity that the Rebel big men stay out of foul trouble.
“I can’t put a finger on anything to stay out of foul trouble because in practice we are physical, so we get a little more fouls in the game that we think aren’t fouls, but they really are fouls,” Holloway said.
Cranston fouled out Sunday night and Henry had four fouls in 17 minutes, forcing the Rebels to play a smaller lineup.
Cranston leads the Rebels with a foul committed every 5.38 minutes played. Hollway and Henry have played 8.48 and 8.75 minutes per foul, respectively.
“When we went small, they did a good job of isolating, whether it be Zach [Graham] or Terrico [White] or [Eniel Polynice] on Powell or Washington, and they hurt us at the rim,” Kennedy said.
The Wildcats (20-1, 5-1) boast one of the most talented frontcourt duos in the country. Junior Patrick Patterson and freshman DeMarcus Cousins have combined to average 31.4 points and 17.4 rebounds this season, intensifying the Rebels’ need to play solid defense underneath the basket.
“A big part is not having [Buckner], our shot-blocker,” Holloway said. “They killed us on the inside, and we just got to try to do something because Reggie is not back. We have to come up with some kind of defensive scheme for Kentucky.”
The Wildcats are coming off a roller-coaster week that saw them vault to the top of both major college basketball polls, lose their first game of the season at South Carolina and become the first SEC team to beat Vanderbilt.
The Rebels are also coming off an awkward week. Inclement weather pushed the Rebel’s game against Arkansas to Sunday, which left the Rebels with only Monday off before playing Kentucky tonight.
“We have one of two choices,” Kennedy said. “We can feel sorry for ourselves and go up to Kentucky and name the score, or we can try to learn some lessons and man up and make a commitment to changing and go up there with the right approach.
“We’ve got one day. We’ll practice tomorrow, try to get as much Kentucky information in them as possible and then we’ll fly to Lexington, so obviously, it will impact how detailed we can get into scouting.”
