Ole Miss men's basketball still 'fighting' for goals set out at the beginning of the season
A win cures all and that is what the Ole Miss men’s basketball team is currently experiencing. The Rebels knocked off Georgia on the road this past Tuesday, locking up its second conference win of the season.
No, the win did not shoot Ole Miss to the top of the Southeastern Conference standings or make them a lock for an automatic bid into next month’s NCAA Tournament. But what it did do was at least instill some confidence back into the Rebels locker room.
Before the win in Athens earlier this week Ole Miss (10-14, 2-9 SEC) was riding a five-game losing streak. The Rebels sunk to the bottom of the SEC standings and are still trying to dig themselves out.
Now Ole Miss is doing so with a little bit of pep in its step and looking at what’s still ahead this season and not at what has already happened since the downward turn in early December.
A trip to March Madness and the NCAA Tournament does not seem very likely to be in Ole Miss’ future. Though with the way college basketball’s postseason is formatted, the Rebels are saying they have a chance.
“College football, (the season) would be over. It’d be hard. College basketball, everybody’s in the NCAA Tournament right now,” said Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis when talking to the members of the media on Friday.
“I’ve taken a team at (Middle Tennessee) that lost its last three game, got a guy hurt and ended up beating Michigan State in the first round. Biggest win in the history of the school. We got hot and won the (conference) tournament. So you never know. It can just happen. We know we’re capable.”
Confidence is suddenly extremely high within the Ole Miss locker room but the hole is deep it needs to climb out of.
The Rebels are currently sitting alone in 12th place of the SEC standings following its win over Georiga, which is two games above them in 11th place. Below Ole Miss is LSU and South Carolina, both of which are tied at 1-10 and currently the worst two teams in the SEC.
Ole Miss hosts the Gamecocks on Saturday at Noon CT in a rematch of a Jan. 17 showdown in Columbia that the Rebels won. Then in the third to last game of the regular season the Tigers come to Oxford on Feb. 25.
Between those two games are three games against Florida, Mississippi State and Auburn. Ole Miss has not played Florida yet this season but have already lost to the Bulldogs and Tigers.
There is a path to getting out of the bottom four and avoiding the first round of next month’s SEC Tournament, but it is a difficult one
“As a team, we’re just always fighting. It’s who we are as a team. It’s DNA. We have a set of guys who just won’t quit,” said forward Tye Fagan. “We still have guys who regular get in the gym regularly getting extra work. …We have guys just willing to put in the work and continuing fighting for what we set our goals for at the beginning at the season. That is winning the (SEC) tournament. Whether we’re 1-9, 2-9.”
What Davis’ full press conference from Friday below. Video courtesy of Ole Miss Sports Productions.
