James White continues strong play as Ole Miss men's basketball picks up second win in Bahamas
James White did not have the freshman season he nor Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis wanted but if the past two days in the Bahamas are any indication things could be looking up.
Ole Miss men’s basketball team defeated Discount Distributors Rockets 88-70 on Tuesday to improve to 2-0 on its trip to Nassau.
In both games White has been impressive, averaging 24 points after averaging just over two points per game last season. Yes it is lesser competition than what Ole Miss will face this season but the signs are positive that White made progress in the offseason and summer months.
White led Ole Miss with a game-high 25 points, shooting 61 percent (11-18), to go with nine rebounds, seven assists and a steal. White scored 23 points in Monday’s win over the Bahamas Select Team.
Getting this performance out of White while Ole Miss is missing Daeshun Ruffin and Robert Allen is an encouraging sign.
“Guys have to go through things but one thing (with) James White was that never deterred him,” Davis said. “Now he’s got this air and playing with confidence about he just took over that game game late. So, that was great to see.”
The first half was an encouraging sign for Ole Miss on offense with 10 Rebels finding their way on the box score.
Matthew Murrell finished behind White with 13 points, Jayveous McKinnis scored 12 points and TJ Caldwell, Myles Burns and Amaree Abram finished with eight points each.
Ole Miss won the rebound battle convincingly by nearly doubling the Rockets 61-34 on the boards.
After a quick start where Ole Miss jumped out to a 30-14 lead in the first quarter they had to overcome sluggish play in the second and third quarter where it scored 32 points total. The Rebels doubled up the Rockets 26-13 in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
Getting positive production out of the newcomers was one goal Davis had for the Bahamas trip with a team that has a lot of new faces.
Abram, McKinnis, Akwuba and Elwin have all shown flashes through through the first two of three games scheduled for this week.
Ole Miss will close out its Bahamas trip on Thursday against Raw Talent Elite. Tipoff scheduled for 3 p.m. CT.
