Josh White
Kentucky Wildcats vs. Ole Miss Rebels
Saturday, February 18, 2012, Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
4:00PM Tipoff, SEC Network
Fresh off of one of their toughest contests of the season and a unique televised midweek practice, the Cats take their number one ranking into their home floor as they take on Andy Kennedy’s Ole Miss Rebels.
The Rebels (15-10, 5-6 SEC, 53 in the RPI ) are fighting for their tournament lives, sitting squarely on the bubble, and a win against Kentucky would certainly give their tournament resume a boost. Losses against Middle Tennessee State and Dayton hurt, but they have a key win over Mississippi State and another solid resume-building win over Miami. Outside of those two games, that’s about it. They’re going to need a big win or two to be able to sneak into the tournament.
No doubt about it, the team has been hurt by last month’s dismissal of leading scorer Dundrecous Nelson, who was arrested on various marijuana-related charges. Before his dismissal, they were 9-4. Post dismissal, they’re 5-6. The scoring load has been shouldered by forwards Terrance Henry and Murphy Holloway, who average 11.5 and 10.8 points per game respectively. Holloway also leads the team with 9.0 rebounds a contest. The key to this game could end up being junior forward Reginald Buckner, who will most likely match up against Anthony “The Uniblocker” Davis (I know Cal is trying to push that ‘Spiderman’ nickname, but Uniblocker is sooo much better!!). Buckner is no slouch under the goal, averaging 8.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game to go along with his 7.2 points.
PREDICTION: Would be uncouth for me to say “It’s a trap!” here? A lot of people are writing off the Rebels this weekend, but consider this. After the Kentucky game they have a game at Tennessee, LSU (who they already lost to), at Arkansas (who they already beat, but has bottomed out as the SEC season commences) and Alabama, who’s hurting with a series of team suspensions. Outside of the SEC tournament, this could be Ole Miss’ last real chance for a resume win. The one win against Mississippi State and next-best win over Miami is not going to win over the selection committee. So in order to keep their slim tournament hopes alive, they must beat Kentucky. Knowing this, expect Kennedy’s crew to throw everything they have at the Cats. They’ll abuse Davis down low, they’ll try to frustrate Teague into turning over the ball and making bad plays, they’ll force Kentucky to make bad shots. In the end, after the blood and fur settles, expect the Cats to put another notch in the win column.
Kentucky 74, Ole Miss 55
