Terrence Henry's late heroics gave the Rebels the two-points worth of breathing room they would need to beat SMU last night in the Tad Pad. After a 50-48 decision which remained close the entirety of the game - there were a half-dozen lead changes - the Rebels closed out their nonconference play and earned their tenth win of the season. Ole Miss snapped a three-game losing streak with the win, garnering some much needed momentum heading into the SEC opener against LSU on the 7th in Baton Rouge.
Henry led the team in scoring with 13 points. Behind him were Jarvis Summers, Maurice Aniefiok, and Reginald Buckner, all with eight. Buckner was a basket shy of a double-double, as he stepped into the injured Murphy Holloway's place to bring down 11 rebounds. Other than that, the only other statistic worthy of mention was the team's collective 14-of-17 from the charity stripe. That's encouraging.
Really though, none of this is really anything over which to get excited. SMU's not a good team, and we played them pretty poorly all things considered.
After the jump, see a poll which I think should be of interest to Rebel basketball fans at this juncture with a significant circumstance of last night's game in mind.
The question I'd like you to answer is simply, "Is Jelan Kendrick worth the trouble?"
Last night, the former McDonald's All-American (something which I feel obliged to mention every time I write about him) sat out again against a lackluster opponent due to a "coach's decision," a wildly vague term which can usually be translated into something like "skipped a practice." Considering his past and the difficulties we've had getting him on the floor, should we give him a few more opportunities to prove his mettle, value, and potential, or should we just expect him to transfer to South Alabama (and lead them to the Sweet Sixteen in two years)?