Rebs Surprise Cats

It was a surprising win for Andy Kennedy and his team tonight with their win over Kentucky. This team has been playing hard over the last few games, but have not been able to keep it together for a full game to pull out a win. Very glad they were able to get a win over such a storied program that Ole Miss has had little success with.

A few thoughts:

• Great game plan by Andy Kennedy and staff. They had the Cats scouted well and played exceptional defense to control many of Kentucky's scoring threats.
• Terrico White is one heck of a player. Even with an injured knee, he played extremely well. His dunk in the first half was quite a play. Probably one of the best dunks I have seen in quite some time.
• This was the first game in his career that Malcolm White really showed up to play. He played well on both offense and defense. Where has this guy been? He has the talent but normally starts pouting and gets stuck in foul trouble.
• Obviously this team is going to be up and down for the rest of the season with the injuries they have, but a win like this always helps the spirit of the team.

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Terrico White and David Huertas each scored 21 points and Ole Miss upset No. 24 Kentucky 85-80 on Tuesday, snapping the Wildcats' five-game win streak a day after they entered the Top 25 for the first time this season.
Neither Kentucky's Jodie Meeks nor Huertas - the Southeastern Conference's Nos. 1 and 3 scorers - managed a field goal in the first half. But Huertas hit a 3-pointer with 11 seconds gone in the second half and the injury-ravaged Rebels (11-9, 2-4 SEC) managed to overcome 24 points from Patrick Patterson for a rare win over the Wildcats (16-5, 5-1).
The win snapped Ole Miss' current three-game losing streak and its nine-game slide to Kentucky, which had won 11 of 12 overall coming into the game. It was just the 12th win for the Rebels in 107 games against the Wildcats.
The Rebels, without three of their best players due to season-ending knee injuries, managed one of their best defensive games of the season.
The Wildcats were fourth in the nation with a shooting percentage of 50.2 percent per game, but struggled against Ole Miss' 2-3 zone and shot 34.3 percent (25-of-65). It was an especially difficult night for Meeks, the nation's No. 3 scorer coming in with 26.1 points per game.
The Rebels held him without a field goal for the first 28:04 and he finished 4-for-15 fro the florr with 21 points. He had eight in the first half, all on free throws, after scoring in double figures in the first 20 minutes of nine of the Wildcats' last 10 games and 14 of 20.
Huertas quickly got open on the left wing on the opening possession of the second half and buried a 3. That spurred Ole Miss to a 16-4 run to open the half that featured four 3-pointers. Graham's second 3 of the run put the Rebels up 53-43 and Kentucky never crept closer than three points after Meeks hit his first two field goals of the game to make it 58-55 with 11:18 left.
Malcolm White scored five points and Huertas hit another 3 during a quick 8-2 run to put the game out of reach.
Ole Miss hit 10 of 26 3s in the game and outrebounded Kentucky 45-40. The Wildcats were just 7-of-28 from the 3-point line.
Terrico White had an especially big game for the Rebels. The freshman finished a point shy of his career high, set one with seven assists and had five rebounds in 37 minutes despite being a game-time decision due to a bruised knee.
Ole Miss led much of the first half, only succumbing to a quick 7-2 run by Kentucky to end the half with a 39-37 lead.