OXFORD — So just how ready is Ole Miss for the Southeastern Conference.
We’ll all begin to find out in just a week.
On Saturday, the Rebels improved to 10-2 with an 87-57 trouncing of Florida-Gulf Coast in front of an announced crowd of 7,551 at The Pavilion at Ole Miss.
Of course, the level of competition will be different for Ole Miss next Saturday when the Rebels travel to Vanderbilt. The Commodores will likely be 9-3 when they open league play. Bryce Drew’s team faces UNC-Asheville Monday in its final pre-SEC tune-up.
“For any team in college basketball to go undefeated in December, that’s hard to do,” Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis said. “I don’t care what schedule you play. The road games, going into today’s game, we had played more games away from home than any team in the SEC — six out of our first 11. I’m proud of our guys for that. We’ve made a lot of progress. We’ve still got a lot of progress to make.
“Since we got the job, the first day, I said, ‘Guys, we’re trying to be built to try to win games on the road in the SEC. That’s the toughness and the different things we try to do. It’s always exciting for me. I’m so happy. I know the teams are going to be really hard and there are going to be some ups and downs in the league, and that’s in any league you play in, but I know our guys are going to have a great week and we’re looking forward to Vandy”
The bigger question for Ole Miss just might be its overall health. On Saturday, Blake Hinson, KJ Buffen and Devontae Shuler all suffered injuries. Hinson returned to the lineup. Buffen left the playing court and didn’t return to the bench. Shuler appeared to injure a hamstring late in the game, was pulled and did not return.
Davis said early indications are the Rebels dodged some bullets. Buffen had no swelling in his injured ankle and “should be fine.” Hinson took a hit in his thigh and “is going to be fine,” Davis said, adding the freshman forward could have returned had his team needed him. Shuler, Davis said, merely suffered a cramp late in the game and was taken out for precautionary reasons.
Terence Davis led Ole Miss Saturday with 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting. Davis also recorded a team-high six rebounds. Breein Tyree scored 14 points, while Hinson, Shuler and Bruce Stevens added 11 each.
Ole Miss out-rebounded FGCU, 37-28, and forced 19 turnovers while just committing 11. The Rebels shot 51.7 percent from the floor, 48 percent from the 3-point line (12-for-25) and had 22 assists on 31 made field goals.
Those are numbers that, if maintained, will play in the SEC. Maintaining that level of performance, of course, will be a tall task.
The Rebels enter SEC play in excellent shape from an NCAA Tournament perspective. They have a Net rating of around 45, and given the strength of the SEC, all Ole Miss has to do is win games.
“I think we control our own destiny,” Terence Davis said. "I think we're prepared. Every day, Coach challenges us to get better. That's the goal."
His coach agreed.
“We get so many opportunities,” Kermit Davis said. “There are so many challenges and opportunities for quadrant one and quadrant two road wins and home wins. There’s a lot of basketball ahead of us and a lot of teams that are fighting for those kinds of things. I’m looking forward to see how our team responds.”
Davis said he’s experimenting with playing Stevens and fellow post Dominik Olejniczak together a bit, adding that defensively, one of those guys will have to guard athletic bigs in those scenarios.
“Both of those guys just give you a little different aspect at the same position,” Davis said. “We have done some different things schematically that we haven’t shown a lot that we’ll start in SEC play to try to guard the post better. …I do think our zone defense is another way to try to help to guard it but I do think both of those guys are very capable of doing that."
Terence Davis said he entered the season knowing this wouldn't be a rebuilding year and believing in his team's potential. Of course, he remembers last season's disastrous performance in SEC play, one that included a seven-game losing streak and the resignation of coach Andy Kennedy.
"That's like rock bottom and a bunch of these returning guys, we've been there," Davis said. "We've hit rock bottom. We know that feeling and we said before the start of the season, we're not going to feel that way anymore. We know what it feels like and we're not going there anymore. This team is definitely ready to show some people and shock some people."
