Ruby DraayerThe Ole Miss Men’s basketball team kicked off their four games in a 12 day stretch against the Missouri Tigers on Tuesday night, but failed to find a rhythm, losing 53-78.
The Rebels struggled from tip-off, shooting 34.4% from the field and 27.3% from three. In a game that Ole Miss couldn’t shoot, they also couldn’t defend. Mizzou finished at 62.7% overall and 57.1% from three, a season-high for Ole Miss opponents.
“Give Missouri and (head coach) Cuonzo (Martin) a ton of credit. They just got blown out at Arkansas about a week ago, lost to a tough one to A&M at home and this team just came out with a purpose,” said Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis.
In his postgame press conference, Davis explained the major concerns that he had leading up to this game. He felt that the team wasn’t going to perform up to their level and again put a lot of the blame on the team’s inability to do their best, rather than take credit for the ineffectiveness of the offensive style of play.
“I feared it yesterday, had to cut practice short because of lack of effort and focus on our part. And so, I’ve done this long enough that you can kind of smell it coming, it didn’t smell that bad, but I knew we wouldn’t be at our best,” Davis said. “We just got beat in every facet of the game, as you saw. They made good shots, drove the ball, put us on our heels and then our inability to just score it around the goal. Give Missouri all the credit.”
Ole Miss moved to 9-8 on the season and 1-4 in conference play, the lone win coming from a win over in-state rival Mississippi State.
Freshman Daeshun Ruffin was one bright spot on Tuesday night, leading the team with 12 points, and will be a crucial piece to turning this team around in conference play.
The Rebels will travel to Starkville to take on Mississippi State on Saturday at 3 p.m. CST.
