Did Ole Miss and head coach Andy Kennedy give the rest of college basketball a blueprint for how to beat No. 1 Kentucky?
Ricky O’Donnell of SB Nation thinks so.
Based on Ole Miss’ performance, O’Donnell thinks these are the keys to knocking off the Wildcats:
1) Shoot the lights out
The Rebels were on fire from the perimeter for most of the night. Ole Miss went 9-of-17 from three-point range and hit 19-of-22 free throws. 5’9 guard Stefan Moody had the game of his life, hanging 25 points on Kentucky’s team of giants. Teammate Jarvis Summer added 23 points in the loss. Every improbable outside shot made you think this upset actually had a chance to happen.
2) Fight like crazy on the glass
Kentucky starts two 7-footers in Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns, which not even a single NBA team can say. Ole Miss starts two 6’9 guys in the front court. Despite the size mismatch, Ole Miss was still able to hold its own in the rebounding battle, losing 34-32.
Kentucky pressed the Rebels into 18 turnovers on the night. Aaron Harrison was the player of the game for Kentucky, scoring 26 points and hitting 5-of-9 attempts from three-point range. It was only the second time this season a Kentucky player has scored over 20 points. Devin Booker was also brilliant off the bench, scoring 13 points and going 3-for-3 from deep. More telling, it might have been the worst game of the season for Cauley-Stein. Ole Miss was doing something right on the inside.
3) Defend without fouling
This is what did Ole Miss in. Kentucky shot 40 (!) free throws, and made 28 of them. That’s only 70 percent shooting from the foul line, but when you get 40 chances, it’s still effective. On the other side, Ole Miss only shot 22 free throws.
