The Ole Miss Rebels (9-1, #35 RPI) take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (7-2, #13 RPI) Saturday at 3:30 CT. The game will be available on CSS and should be a very interesting one. The Golden Eagles have four players averaging double figures and significant depth. Led by star player LaShay Page (15.3 ppg), they have strong contributions from several battle-tested guards. The Rebels do have a significant height advantage as Southern Miss only plays one player who is listed over 6'6". If we can attack the board (something we've done poorly the past few games), we could exploit a significant mismatch.
Our problem is going to come on the perimeter, where Southern Miss has six players with three point percentages higher than our highest. I would guess we'll see tons of Nick Williams, Murphy Holloway, and (fingers crossed) Jelan Kendrick in order to adquately defend the perimeter. If we let Southern make shots from three all night, we're screwed. This can't be a shootout.
Predictions:
1. Dundrecous Nelson's three-point percentage is less than .350 for the first time in three games.
2. Reggie Buckner doesn't break the blocks record. (He needs just two.)
3. Nick Williams scores 12 or more points.
Golden Eagles 70 - Rebels 65