Ole Miss Rebels 72, Penn State Nittany Lions 70

Ole Miss (7-1, #11 RPI) defeated Penn State (6-3, #78 RPI) last night in a thrilling game. I couldn't watch it, but I listened to the game, which stayed close the whole time, and came away with some points of interest. As always, those follow after the jump.

The team itself reverted to taking a lot of three pointers, but they luckily fell for the first time all season. The Rebs were 11-24 from three point range with several good stat lines. We didn't get to the line as much as we have been lately, but we made our trips count, going 7-10 at the charity stripe. Nothing much changed in the rotation, though Jarvis Summers' 36 minutes dwarfed Dundrecous Nelson's 22. We're beginning to see how that will shake out this year.

Speaking of Jarvis, he had an alright game, scoring 27 points on 10-16 shooting and 3-4 at the line. Summers turned the ball over just twice and (according to people who get the Big Ten Network) didn't look panicked. He did register four personal fouls, but there's no use picking nits here. Jarvis Summers was a phenom last night and left our fans asking "Ky who?"

Ho hum. Murphy Holloway got a double-double. 2-3 from the line with five steals and only two fouls, Murphy continues to show out and thrill the fan base. I know I say this all the time, but..... he just works so hard. Murphy is probably 6'5 1/2" but somehow he comes down with tons of rebounds and goes after the ball non-stop.

After a dominant performance against DePaul, Reggie Buckner absolutely disappeared last night. With two points, two rebounds, two blocks, two turnovers, and four fouls in 28 minutes of play, Buckner was quiet all night. It's so frustrating to see him swing back and forth so violently.

Terrance Henry had a decent performance, scoring nine points including two threes, but like Buckner, he's got to get more active on the boards. He only had two rebounds last night, and that's just not enough.

Nick Williams was the other starter and produced the way everyone expects Nick to produce. Ten points, two rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Williams has been a steadying force so far this year, and that's needed in such a young backcourt. If he can keep this up, I'll forgive him for last year.

Nelson was 3-10 from three in 22 minutes. Yeah. he attempted ten threes in 22 minutes. Either Kennedy changed strategies, or Nelson missed the memo.

Demarco Cox, Aaron Jones, and Maurice Aniefiok played as well, but they didn't do much in limited action. Aniefiok just doesn't seem ready to contribute this year, and his minutes are going to decrease even more when Jelan Kendrick and Snoop White are eligibile.

Lastly, Murphy Holloway tweeted that when the Rebels got back to Oxford last night Jelan Kendrick was in the BPF practicing. I think he's ready to play. I'm excited.