Riley Comden
After dominating the boards and forcing 19 turnovers, the Rebels’ offense fell flat on Saturday, Jan. 30, resulting in a 71-61 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs. The Bulldogs held the lead for almost the whole game, trailing behind only twice, and they have won the last three matchups against Ole Miss.
Ole Miss now falls to an overall record of 8-8 with three wins and six losses in the conference. Georgia is now 10-6 on the season with three wins and six losses in the conference as well.
“I thought our team really fought,” Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis said. “But the last ten minutes, Georgia kind of took over from a physical standpoint with the second shots, 50-50 balls. Our team held together until that time. That’s all we’ll do tomorrow. We’ll watch the last 12 minutes of the game when they chased every ball down and got rebounds.”
The Rebels’ offensive woes continued in the game against Georgia. Coming into the game, the Rebels offense ranked No. 226 in Division I, scoring less than 70 points per game. That trend continued against the Bulldogs, with the Rebels shooting only 36% from the floor, including making two out of the 13 three-pointer attempts.
Junior guard Jarkel Joiner put up 14 big points and had five rebounds and one assist. Senior Devontae Shuler took the next highest scorer for the Rebels with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists. Closely following behind was junior Robert Allen, who earned a starting position for the game, had ten points, six rebounds and one assist.
Sophomore Louis Rodriguez added nine points and five rebounds for the night and forward Romello White had eight points, four rebounds and two assists. One thing is for sure, the Rebels can rebound.
On the other end of things, Ole Miss’ scoring defense is ranked at No. 24 in D1. The Rebels put forth good defensive numbers against the Bulldogs, with 27 defensive rebounds, 12 steals and four blocks.
The Rebels will take on the Tennessee Volunteers at 6 p.m on Tuesday at the Pavilion. The game will be live on ESPN2.
