PREVIEW: Ole Miss Men’s Basketball hosts Temple

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss basketball is back on the court as the Rebels are hosting their second AAC opponent in a row with the Temple Owls coming to Oxford for a 4:00 p.m. Saturday matchup.

Saturday will be the first time Ole Miss and Temple have taken the hardwood together since 1998 when the Owls bested the Rebels in a game where current AD Keith Carter led Ole Miss with a 19-point performance. Overall, the two teams have met four times with Temple leading the series, 3-1.

Kermit Davis’ team sits with a 7-3 record with only two games remaining on the non-conference schedule. After the matchup against the Owls, Ole Miss will finish off this portion of the season with a Tuesday game against North Alabama.

Last time out, Ole Miss dropped one at home to UCF. In that game, the Rebels found themselves in a situation where they had to claw and fight back after a slow start saw the Knights race to a 21-0 lead.

Ole Miss found itself within striking distance a couple times in the second half, as UCF’s lead was cut down to four twice before the Knights pulled away for the 72-61 win.

Wednesday’s game saw the best performance for two Rebel newcomers in Josh Mballa and Malique Ewin. The duo combined for 28 points and 12 rebounds while providing a big spark off the bench.

Today’s contest will air-on SEC Network with commentary provided by Mark Neely and Daymeon Fishback.

Who is Temple?

Former program star Aaron McKie is in his 4th season at the helm of the Temple program. In the American conference, the Owls were predicted to finish in the top half of the league and with of the youngest rosters in the conference. Last season the roster was the second-least experienced in all of the NCAA. That team also lost star scorer Khalif Battle early in the year and finished 17-12.

The Owls have had an up-and-down season to date and enter Oxford with a 6-5 record. Highlights for the season so far include wins over Villanova and Rutgers. Temple recently comes off a 20-point loss against Penn last Saturday and has other notable losses to Vanderbilt (89-87) and St. John’s (78-72).

Youth is still a factor in this Temple squad as every player who averages >1.0 PPG is a sophomore.

Leading scorer Battle (19.4 PPG) has returned and is one of three players to score in double figures for Temple this season. The other two are guard Damian Dunn (15.0 PPG) and forward Jamille Reynolds. Unfortunately Reynolds, who is also Temple’s leading rebounder, is sidelined for the next 6-8 weeks after having surgery on his thumb.

Coach McKie’s offensive philosophy relies on spacing and shooting. This year the Owls have taken 602 field goal attempts, and 58.1% of those have been jumpers (350). Breaking that down a little bit farther, 268 of those 350 jump shots have been three pointers equaling 76.6%

Three Keys for Ole Miss

1. Impose your will physically and get to the paint

A common theme in all Ole Miss games this season (wins and losses) is that if a team wins the rebounding battle and the points in the paint, that team will win the game. That has occurred in 8 of Ole Miss’ 10 games this season. When Ole Miss takes the court against Temple, the Rebels should focus on doing everything to get downhill, to get post touches and offensive rebounds.

Teams have been shooting 54.7% against Temple at the rim this season. As mentioned earlier, Jamille Reynolds, who has been the biggest inside presence for the Owls, is sidelined. Losing Reynolds impacts the size factor this Temple team has to use.

The next available forward is Nick Jourdain (6’8,” 205 lbs). Temple will also need to look for more minutes out of Kur Jungkoch (6’9,” 220 lbs.) who has played just over 10 minutes per game this season.

Ole Miss has five players who all weigh between 220 and 230 pounds, and they should find ways to make their physicality known.

2. Pressure on the Perimeter

On the year, Temple’s Battle has taken 96 three-pointers. Of his 162 total field goals, 59% of his total shots are from beyond the arc.  Sixty-four percent of Battle’s shots have been off catch-and-shoot opportunities.

While Battle operates off-ball, Damian Dunn is mostly on-ball. Just over a quarter of his offensive possessions come from him running the pick-n-roll (PNR). Of the 45 possessions of PNR from Dunn, 30 of those have been acting as a high pick-n-roll beyond the three-point line.

Things are going to change a bit for the Temple offense as Reynolds was the primary screener in that action. Those two guys have an added pressure to find more opportunities as Reynolds was their main inside factor.

3. Get Out Quick

This Ole Miss team has been a really good second-half team. Routinely, this group has been able to improve upon its first half, and in some instances has been able to get back into games or take that step ahead in the second.

With SEC play right around the corner, the margin for error shrinks in these quality games. Ole Miss needs to find its rhythm, its consistency. The Rebels need to start a game strong, battle through and end it strong.

Some of these early losses could have been wins if Ole Miss goes out and starts the game off fast. This Temple game gives Ole Miss a chance to get things going and find a little mojo with conference play a little less than two weeks away.

(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)