BLOG — For the first time in 76 years, the Ole Miss men’s basketball team is 4-0 at the start of its Southeastern Conference schedule.The Rebels were able to celebrate the milestone thanks to a 76-64 win over Arkansas in front of a sold-out crowd of 9,004 at C.M. “Tad” Smith Coliseum Saturday afternoon. In a game that was delayed in the first half at the 5:37 mark due to a power outage on campus, the Rebels played in control most of the day even if they didn’t always shoot like coach Andy Kennedy would like.
“For us, I’m proud that our team continues to find a way to win. We’ve still got a lot of things we can improve upon. This is the first time we’ve started 4-0 since ‘37 but that actually has nothing to do with this group. Our kids don’t think about any of that stuff,” Kennedy said. “It’s just about us getting better and getting to the next game. Obviously the spotlight has gotten a little brighter. We’ve had two great crowds, great energy in the building and that helps us. It truly does. My hope is it will continue and my hope is that my guys will embrace the grind because that’s what it is. We’re two weeks into a nine-week grind. We’ve got seven more (weeks) and we have to be ready for that.”
Ole Miss led the Razorbacks, who have now lost six straight times to the Rebels, 34-26 at the half. Ole Miss was up 41-28 at the 17:44 mark of the second half before the Razorbacks worked their way back into the contest and tied it at 52 with 10:09 left. That’s as close as Arkansas got as the Rebels broke the tie with a 3-pointer from Marshall Henderson and then outscored the Hogs 21-12 the rest of the way.
Henderson led the 15-2 Rebels with 16 points. Murphy Holloway had 15, while Nick Williams, who can be seen in the video below, finished with 14.
(January 19, 2013)
