Ole Miss makes NCAA tourney, plays BYU Tuesday
Ole Miss had to wait until the very end of the selection show Sunday evening before finding out it is invited to the NCAA Tournament. After what seemed like an eternity, the Rebels finally heard their name called when they were chosen as a No. 11 seed in the West Regional.
Here’s the team’s reaction after finding out it was selected. (Courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics.)
Ole Miss (20-12) will take on No. 11 seed BYU (25-9) on Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio and should they win, they would play No. 6 seed Xavier in the Round of 64 on Thursday in Jacksonville, Florida.
Ole Miss is making its 2nd NCAA appearance in the last 3 years under head coach Andy Kennedy. (Photo credit: Bentley Breland)
Senior G Jarvis Summers was a little surprised by the Rebels’ selection, but seemed resolved to make the most of it. “I was surprised to see our name pop up there,” he said. “I felt like we could have had a better season, but we’re thankful and blessed it worked out for us. We have to make something of it now.”
Ole Miss is making its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last three years under head coach Andy Kennedy. The Rebels’ coach will be making his ninth NCAA post-season trip as a player and coach.
This year’s trip was certainly not a given for Kennedy and the Rebels, as they needed a little help from some other teams in this weekend’s conference tournaments. Fortunately, they received it. “We certainly took a circuitous route to get where we wanted to be, and it was certainly not one that I would have chosen, but ultimately we arrived at our destination,” Kennedy said.
Ole Miss has never faced BYU in basketball before, though the Rebels are 3-0 all time versus teams currently in the West Coast Conference. The last member of that league the Rebels defeated was San Francisco in 2012. Interestingly, Ole Miss and BYU did not have one opponent in common this season.
Scouting BYU
The Cougars concluded their regular season at 25-9 and entered as the No. 2 seed in the West Coast Conference tournament. They made it to the finals where they lost to No. 1 seed Gonzaga. BYU currently sits at second in the country in scoring at 83.6 points per game.
BYU Players to watch
Senior G Tyler Haws, named to the Wooden Award ballot (top 15), the Naismith Midseason Top 30, a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award and a Jerry West Award finalist, is third in the country in scoring at 22.9 ppg. He is first on the BYU career scoring list and 24th all-time in NCAA history with 2,672 points.
Senior G Kyle Collinsworth has set the NCAA record for triple-doubles in a season and tied the NCAA career record with six. He also has 14 double-doubles on the year and has reached 1,100 career points.
To win and advance
So what will it take for Ole Miss to win the game? Coach Kennedy put it this way:
“Moody has to make shots on Tuesday night. Jarvis has to make shots on Tuesday night. Snoop has to make shots on Tuesday night. Collectively, we have to finish around the rim on Tuesday. We have to rebound the ball. We are who we are, just like everybody in the tournament at this point. I’m happy for these guys that they stayed the course.” Coach Andy Kennedy
Where to watch:
Tuesday’s game will be broadcast on truTV with Brian Anderson handling play-by-play duties and Steve Smith as analyst. The game will be available on radio via the Ole Miss Radio Network with David Kellum on play-by-play.
Live video may also be accessed through NCAA.com and live audio through OleMissSports.com.
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