Caleb HarrisThe men’s basketball team ended their four game losing streak against SEC opponent Florida at the SJB Pavilion, with a solid 70-54 victory. The Rebels performed at one of their highest levels all season, with a strong surge of offense that had been lacking during the four game losing streak.
After a strong surge in the second half, the Rebels showed that there is still fight within this team. The Rebels shot at an efficient 52% from the field goal as a whole, and 31% from the three-point line. Ole Miss was excellent shooting 80% from the free throw line.
It was a team effort to pull off this win, and it all started with freshman guard Daeshun Ruffin. He came away with 21 points on 6-13 from the FG and 9-10 from the free throw line. Ruffin also had four rebounds and six assists, a team high. Sophomore guard Matthew Murrell accompanied Ruffin with 20 points shooting 8-12 from the field and 3-6 from the three-point line.
During the first half, the crowd witnessed a low scoring half.. The game saw signs of offense when each team were on hot streaks, but poor shooting from the perimeter kept the game in the 20s. Ole Miss as a team was shooting 32% from the field and 22% from the three-point line. Only three Rebels were on the board with points in the first half. Ole Miss was down 12-17 around the eight minute mark of the first half, but was able to rally back to tie the game.
The second half was a resurgence like no other. The Rebels outscored the Gators 48-32. The Rebel offense was effective from the first minute of the second half, thanks to graduate student center Nysier Brooks scoring to open up the half from the first of four straight turnovers by the Gators.
Ole Miss converted all four turnovers into points, extending their lead to 28-22. After a short rally by Florida to tie the game at 32-32, the Rebels fired back with a steal that quickly shifted the momentum.
This proved to be a recurring theme throughout the rest of the games. Turnovers created fast break opportunities for the Rebels all night. Ole Miss was able to score 23 points off of turnovers and 8 points off the fast break. Florida didn’t score any points from the fast break.
Defense has been a huge emphasis for the Rebels and that continues to be the case in this matchup. The Gators shot at 38% from the field goal line and an abysmal 13% from the three-point line, thanks to great perimeter defense by the Rebels. If Ole Miss wants to continue their winning ways, their defense has to be the backbone and then the offense can generate from that. The Rebels are going to need players like Ruffin and Murell to be consistent scorers for them until Jarkel Joiner can come back from injury. Ole Miss 10-9 (2-5 SEC) will host Arkansas 14-5 (4-3 SEC) home at the SJB Pavilion Wednesday, Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. on SEC ESPN Network.
