Rebels Fight Back, But Not Enough

Another game, another deficit the Rebels tried to overcome, but couldn't. As Vanderbilt defeated Ole Miss 85-80. The Rebels found themselves down 10 at half and at one point were down by more than that. They came out feisty in the second half and had the lead a couple of times, but only by one point. In the end the Rebels could not put the Commodores away as they went on a 6-0 run late in the game to pull away.

The Rebels were led by Bam Doyne who contributed 22 points. Bam had a great game, it was his first SEC game to really take control. Bam played like this in pre-SEC play, but has not performed like this in about a month of play. Dwayne Curtis added 12 as Clarence Sanders and Todd Abernathy both pitched in 11.

The Rebels starting five played small and we stayed that way for most of the first half, as Brian Smith started. Sanders did not see the court much if at all in the first half. He came out in the second half and threw it up as he normally does. To give him credit though he did make some big three's at key points in the game. I was a little disappointed with the play of Dwayne Curtis I think he is a step slow and misses way to many easy layups. His slowness caused us a few points on defense and he seems to always be the last player up and down the floor. Which is not odd for a post player, but it seems it happens more often for Curtis. On the other side, I really like the play of Kenny Williams. He fouled out yet again today, but I think he is a huge asset to this team.

Some loyal Rebels are saying the referees cost us this game. I do not believe that. Yeah there were some bad calls, but it did not cost us the game. Our cause was not helped at the free throw line. To of our key players Bam and Todd both missed key free throws late in the game. The Rebels were 9-18 from the charity stripe. You can see in that stat where the game could have been turned around.

This was another game of ups and downs for the Rebels. They are digging themselves in too big of a hole to comeback and win these games. However I think this team still has a handful of wins left in them. They are fighters and continue to improve as the season goes along. It is my opinion if this team had been coached by Kennedy over the past two years, they would have won this game tonight.

The big game is Tuesday night. It is a nationally televised game on ESPN as the MSU Bulldogs come to town. The Dogs are a good team and we need to play a 40 minute game to beat them. We also need to have fans in the stands, I plead for those of you that can easily get there, to be at this game. Tip-off is earlier than normal at 6:00.