Rebs Head to Bama

After an ugly game against Presbyterian College last night that saw the Rebels get their 17th win of the season, the team heads on the road to Tuscaloosa to take on the Crimson Tide. Coleman Coliseum has been a tough place for the Rebels to play over the years. The Rebs are currently on a two game SEC losing streak and I do not look for that streak to change tomorrow.

This team is on a downswing and needs something big to get their spirits back in them if they want to make a run at the dance. By all means they are not out the picture and many sportswriters still have them in the dance, except I would put them in the "last four in" category at this point of the season. Based on the way they have played games over the past two and half weeks. A win on the road would be great for this team, however I just do not see it happening tomorrow.

(UMAA Notes)REBELS HEAD BACK TO ALABAMA After squeezing in the final non-conference game of the season Monday vs. Presbyterian, Ole Miss returns to SEC action and a Western Division battle against the Crimson Tide of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Rebels are 3-5 in SEC play and sit in third place in the division, while Alabama owns a 2-7 league record and is tied for fourth in the West. Ole Miss has dropped each of its four league road contests so far, while boasting a 3-1 SEC mark at home. The Rebels return to Alabama less than a month after dropping an 80-77 contest to the Auburn Tigers on the Plains. The Rebels still rank 11th in the nation in team scoring, but have not eclipsed the 80-point mark in the last six contests. The two teams have split the season series in eight of the last nine years.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON TIDE Alabama enters the week 13-11 overall and 2-7 in SEC play, which puts the Crimson Tide in a tie for fourth place in the Western Division standings. Alabama is on a two-game losing streak with road losses at Mississippi State and Kentucky. The Tide is 10-5 at home and 1-5 in away games. They own a 2-3 record in league contests at Coleman Coliseum, but are winless away from home in league play at 0-4. As a team, Alabama averages 75.9 points per game, while allowing 72.7 per contest. The Tide’s leader is junior forward Richard Hendrix, the only SEC player averaging a double-double with 19.0 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. He shares the league lead in double-doubles with Ole Miss’ Dwayne Curtis at 12. Alonzo Gee puts up 15.8 points and 7.3 boards per contest, while Mykal Riley adds 13.4 points per game.
THREE-PEAT FRESHMAN HONOR FOR WARREN For the third time this season, Ole Miss point guard Chris Warren has been tabbed the SEC Freshman of the Week, the league office announced Monday. The Orlando, Fla., native poured in a career-high 26 points at Arkansas on Saturday, his fourth 20-point performance in league play. He single-handedly kept Ole Miss in the game, scoring 18 points in the second half, including 11 straight for the Rebels in the stretch run to cut a 12-point Razorback lead with just under three minutes remaining to a three-point edge with 51 seconds left in the game. Warren also earned Freshman of the Week honors on Dec. 3 and Dec. 24. He is the second SEC freshman to three-peat on the weekly honors, joining Vanderbilt’s A.J. Ogilvy.