10 Observations: Ole Miss' comeback attempt falls short in loss to UGA

OXFORD — Ole Miss’ desperate comeback attempt Saturday fell just short,

Trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half and 12 points late, Ole Miss held Georgia without a field goal for the final 3:11.

However, the Rebels’ attempt for what would have been a dramatic victory failed as Georgia held on for a 78-74 victory.

Ole Miss fell to 6-6 overall and 1-4 in the Southeastern Conference. Georgia, meanwhile, improved to 8-4 overall and 1-4 in the SEC.

“We knew both teams would be playing really desperate,” Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis said. “I think the only must-wins you have, really, is probably going to be if we have a tournament in Nashville. But it was a game we needed to be desperate to try to win, no question about it. We couldn’t get it done.”

Devontae Shuler had a game-high 24 points for Ole Miss. Jarkel Joiner had 22. Tye Fagan led Georgia with 19 points. Sahvir Wheeler had 18, KD Johnson 14 and Toumani Camara 13.

Here are 10 observations from Ole Miss’ loss to Georgia:

1. For much of the first half Saturday, Ole Miss was in control, but forgive me for a moment while I make a baseball analogy. Ole Miss basketball is like a baseball team that can’t hit. As long as the ace is on the mound shutting down the other team, the lack of hitting is disguised. However, as soon as he hangs a curveball or the shortstop commits a throwing error, the whole things falls apart. Ole Miss goes through lengthy periods every game where it just can’t shoot. It’s as simple as that, though it’s more complicated than that. But when a basketball team can’t score consistently, its margin for error is always razor thin.

2. Ole Miss led by six late in the first half, but Georgia went on a mini-run to take a one-point lead into the intermission. Then the Bulldogs came out in the second half making shots and getting stops. Quickly, Georgia built a double-digit lead. The Bulldogs shot 80 percent from the floor in the first 6:29 of the second half, extending its advantage to 48-36 before Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis had to burn a timeout to try to stop the bleeding.

“I thought that was the turning point of the game,” Davis said. “Give Georgia all the credit. They came here after getting beaten bad twice and showed a lot of character and out-toughed us when the game was on.”

3. It was obvious early on Ole Miss had spent the last few days focused on rebounds. The Rebels crashed the glass on the offensive end and took a team approach on the defensive end. Guards, wings and bigs alike were active on the defensive glass. Not to belabor the point, but if points are going to come at a premium, Ole Miss simply must be a dominant rebounding team. On Saturday, the Rebels were for more than half the game, winning the rebounding battle, 33-24. It just wasn’t enough.

“The way we are playing right, rebounding is critical,” Davis said. “That’s what really cost us at Florida (Tuesday). Had we rebounded like we did today, we would have won at Florida.”

4. It’s redundant, I know, but Ole Miss just can’t score the basketball consistently. In the first half, the Rebels got open look after open look. The offense flowed. The ball moved. Open shots were created. Ole Miss just missed them. The Rebels were 1-for-13 from the 3-point line in the first half. That just won’t win. Make a few of those in the first half and Saturday is a nice home win.

“If we can make some plays and make some wide open perimeter shots, I mean the game is 42-29,” Davis said. “We struggled so mightily to score in the first half and in the second half, I really think the first four or five minutes on offense affected defense. It should not, but it did and it kind of snowballed on us.”

5. Ole Miss got within seven points midway through the second half and forced a turnover. However, Shuler’s drive to the basket on the ensuing possession ended without points and Sahvir Wheeler took advantage of a mismatch on the other end to push Georgia’s lead back to nine points.

6. Things stalled for a few minutes there, but KJ Buffen had a huge sequence with 6 1/2 minutes or so to go. He challenged a Georgia scoring threat at the basket and then scored on a runner to pull Ole Miss to within six points. It wasn’t perfect, but I just loved Buffen’s game Saturday. After missing a couple of critical free throws late in Tuesday’s collapse at Florida, Buffen was clearly very down on himself. On Saturday, however, Buffen was composed, playing a point forward sort of role, distributing the basketball from the elbow and punishing Georgia for double-teams. When Buffen accepts that role and plays the really smart basketball he’s capable of playing, Ole Miss is a much smoother team on offense. When Buffen is doing some of the junkyard things he’s asked to do on defense, he has tons of value.

7. All of that said, Ole Miss made shots in second half. Shuler made some big 3s. So did Joiner. However, when the Rebels got their offense flowing, their defense fell apart. Georgia had to really work for looks at the basket in the first half. In the second half, the Bulldogs were able to create open looks from the perimeter and drives to the hoop. After Ole Miss had closed to within six points, Georgia went on a 6-0 run in just 41 seconds to extend its lead to 12 points with 4:25 to go.

8. Ole Miss made one final run Saturday. Joiner’s bucket with 2:44 left cut Georgia’s lead to six points and Shuler’s 3-pointer with 2:11 left made it a one-possession game. Ole Miss answered with a strong defensive possession, forcing Georgia to commit a shot-clock violation. Shuler drew a foul on the subsequent possession, earning a trip to the free throw line with 1:27 left. Shuler made both, cutting Georgia’s lead to 73-72.

Davis’ 1-3-1 zone really bothered Georgia late. The Bulldogs devolved into a turnover machine against the zone. The officials bailed the Bulldogs out with 1:02 left, whistling Shuler for a foul on Sahvir Wheeler. The Georgia guard made both free throws to extend the Bulldogs’ lead back to three points. Then Joiner committed a turnover with 44.4 seconds left, stepping on the end line under the Ole Miss basket while he looked for an outlet.

“I have to be more aware of where I am on the court,” Joiner said. “We started making shots in the second half and I have to make a better play than that.”

Ole Miss, needing a stop desperately, committed a foul on Wheeler with 18 seconds left. Joiner fouled Wheeler as the Georgia guard tired to split a double team, sending him to the free throw line. Wheeler made both free throws, pushing the Bulldogs’ led back to five points. Matthew Murrell’s put back with 10 seconds left cut the lead to three points and Ole Miss’ trap briefly discombobulated the Georgia offense, but the Bulldogs got Justin Kier to the free throw line with 5.6 left. Kier made one of two to put the game away.

9. Georgia shot 75 percent from the floor in the second half and made five of six 3-point attempts. Ole Miss shot 58.1 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes, including a 66.7-percent clip from the 3-point line. As it turned out, free throws were critical. Georgia was 15-for-17 from the line. Ole Miss was a stunning 5-for-15. In a game that turned out to be basically even — Georgia had 16 turnovers while Ole Miss had 15 and the Rebels had 19 personal fouls compared to the Bulldogs’ 17 — the failures at the free throw line were fatal.

“They just popped us,” Davis said. “We couldn’t stop the dribble, couldn’t guard around the goal and we got a group in there at the end that made a great effort and got it to within one possession game, but it was too late.”

Prior to the season, Davis expressed confidence this would be an elite defensive team. Twelve games into the season, however, it isn’t.

“We were an elite defensive team against mid-major teams but a very average defensive team against Power-5 teams,” Davis said. “We have to fix that. We have to coach it better. We have to play it better. We were playing the 1-3-1 but their guards got inside us. We don’t really have a lot of rim protection. I thought that would be improved but it hasn’t this year.”

Davis called the Rebels’ effort at the free throw line “abysmal,” adding he does believe there’s some correlation between foul shooting and struggling from the floor.

10. Ole Miss travels to Starkville Tuesday night to face Mississippi State. Tipoff is set for 8. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.

“We’re going to grind it every day,” Davis said. “…Seventy-four (points) should be plenty for us to win at home.”

“We just have to keep keeping on,” Joiner said. “I know it’s cliche to say but we just have to keep working. We just have to keep our heads down and keep working. It’s going to come.”