re: 2017-2018 Rebel Hoops 12-20 (5-13): USCe L; HIRE THAD MATTA

https://www.olemisssports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/111617aaa.html


GAME 3
Matchup: Georgia State (2-0) at Ole Miss (2-0)
Tickets: OleMissTix.com
Date: Friday, November 17, 2017
Time: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Arena: The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500)
Television: SECN+
Richard Cross, play-by-play
Marc Dukes, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss IMG Sports Network
David Kellum, play-by-play
Keith Carter, analyst
Listen: OleMissSports.com
Watch: WatchESPN.com
Live Stats: OleMissSports.com
Series: Ole Miss leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Nov. 25, 2015
Ole Miss won 68-59
Oxford, Miss.

PROMOTIONS
Breein Tyree poster to first 2,000 fans.

TIPOFF TIDBITS
- Ole Miss and Georgia State will play for the second time over the last three seasons.
- Georgia State is the second Sun Belt opponent the Rebels will play through the first three games of the season.
- The matchup between the Rebels and Panthers is an “Undercard” game for the MGM Grand Main Event, which will take place in Las Vegas Nov. 20-22. Ole Miss is playing in the “Heavyweight Bracket” with Utah, Rice and UNLV, while Georgia State is in the “Middleweight Bracket” with Prairie View A&M, Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Washington.
- The Rebels are coming off an 85-75 victory over Eastern Kentucky in their first MGM Grand Main Event Undercard game, Nov. 13.
- Ole Miss is finishing a three-game homestand before heading to Las Vegas for a pair of games.
- The Rebels are 2-0 for the 11th time in 12 seasons under Andy Kennedy.
- Ole Miss is 1,283-1,282 all-time to hold a program record over .500 for the first time since Jan. 12, 1959.
- The Rebels are looking to improve to 3-0 for the eighth time in the past 12 seasons.
- Ole Miss is in the 12th season of the Andy Kennedy era; Kennedy, the Dean of the SEC, is the winningest coach in school history with 236 victories.
- Only two games into this season, Kennedy already has the fifth-most wins in SEC history by a coach in his first 12 years in the league at one school.
- Ole Miss leads the SEC in offensive rebounding with 14.5 per game.
- The Rebel bench is averaging 41 points per game to start the season, 45.8 percent of the team’s scoring.
- With 75 career blocks, senior Marcanvis Hymon is one rejection away from tying Murphy Holloway for 11th on the school’s all-time list.
- Hymon celebrated his 22nd birthday on Thursday.
- Hymon is the only Rebel who has faced GSU; he recorded seven points and six rebounds in 26 minutes.
- First team Preseason All-SEC honoree Deandre Burnett has scored 17 points in each of the first two games this season, both coming off the bench.
- Guards are accounting for 74.3 percent of the Rebels’ scoring through the first two games.

PARTY LIKE IT’S 1959
With a win over Eastern Kentucky on Monday, Ole Miss improved it’s all-time record to 1,283-1,282. It marked the first time the Rebels held an all-time winning percentage over .500 since Jan. 12, 1959 when they were 441-440 overall. To put that in perspective, a gallon of gas cost 25 cents, while 1959 was also the year that Alaska and Hawaii became states. As a program, Ole Miss was 95 games under .500 when Andy Kennedy took over in Oxford prior to the 2006-07 season.

SCOUTING GEORGIA STATE
Friday’s matchup will be a battle of two undefeated teams as Georgia State enters with a record of 2-0. The Panthers defeated Carver Bible College by 40 to open the season (Nov. 10) and are coming off a 75-54 road victory at Rice (Nov. 14). GSU also went 3-0 in exhibition games, including a 65-58 win over Georgia Tech. Sophomore guard D’Marcus Simonds, last year’s Sun Belt Freshman of the Year, leads the Panthers with 17.0 ppg and 8.5 rpg. In the team’s season opener, he recorded the first triple-double in school history. Juniors Malik Benlevi (14.0 ppg), Devin Mitchell (13.0) and Jeff Thomas (10.0) are averaging double figures in scoring as well. Georgia State is coached by Ron Hunter, who is in his seventh season with the program and has 125 victories as the school’s winningest coach.

THE LONE MATCHUP VS. THE PANTHERS
Ole Miss and Georgia State will meet for only the second time in history. After going decades without playing one another, 52 years to be exact with GSU fielding its first basketball team in 1963-64, the Rebels and Panthers will play for the second time in the past three seasons. The first matchup took place at Tad Smith Coliseum (Nov. 25, 2015) with Stefan Moody scoring 21 points to lead Ole Miss to a 68-59 victory. Moody was 6-of-13 from the floor with two 3-pointers, and had five assists and three steals. Tomasz Gielo added 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting for the Rebels, who made five of their first six shots from beyond the arc before going cold and shooting 1-of-10 the rest of the game. Ole Miss was 21-of-44 from the field and 20-of-24 from the free-throw line, and had 15 turnovers and five steals.

THE ROAD TO VEGAS
Before the Rebels arrive in Las Vegas next week for the MGM Grand Main Event, they are hosting a pair of “Undercard” games this week. Ole Miss dropped Eastern Kentucky 85-75 Monday night in the first Undercard matchup of the event, and Georgia State will come to town for team’s second Undercard contest. Both Eastern Kentucky and Georgia State will head to the Sin City and compete in the Middleweight Bracket with Eastern Washington and Prairie View A&M. Meanwhile, the Rebels will compete in the Heavyweight Bracket against Utah (Nov. 20) before facing either Rice or UNLV (Nov. 22).

GREEN LIGHT GUARDS
Andy Kennedy has proven to develop guards during his time at Ole Miss. Over Kennedy’s 11 seasons in Oxford, 12 guards have earned All-SEC accolades to rank third among conference teams. This season, the depth at guard shows in terms of scoring. Through the first two games of the season, Ole Miss guards have accounted for 74.3 percent of the Rebels’ points. Five of the top six scorers on the team are guards, including the top three in Terence Davis (18.5 ppg), Deandre Burnett (17.0 ppg) and Devontae Shuler (13.0 ppg). Graduate transfer Markel Crawford adds 9.5 ppg, while starting point guard Breein Tyree contributes 8.5 ppg.

OFF THE BENCH
Not only has there been increased depth at the guard position, but the Rebels are deeper as a whole. After the first two contests of the 2017-18 campaign, the Ole Miss bench has averaged 41 of the team’s 89.5 points per game. That rate of 45.8 percent of the team’s scoring ranks third among benches in the SEC. Texas A&M leads the conference with 55.7 percent of its points coming from the bench, while Mississippi State ranks second at a 52.1 clip. However, both teams have only played one game and only time will tell regarding the depth of benches throughout the SEC.

VICTORY OVER EASTERN KENTUCKY
As skilled and quick as Eastern Kentucky was in the post, Ole Miss’ guard play provided the fire power to lift the Rebels over the Colonels 85-75 to improve to 2-0 on Monday evening. Ole Miss’ lead ballooned to as many as 10 in the first half and 19 in the second. Ultimately, the scoring from Ole Miss’ backcourt kept the Colonels at a comfortable distance for most of the second half. No one on the floor was more efficient for the Rebels than senior guard Deandre Burnett. He scored 17 points on 4-of-8 shooting coming off of the bench, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and knocking down 5-of-6 free throws. Devontate Shuler scored 12 points in his first career start, and Terence Davis had 16 of his own. Markell Crawford scored 10 points.

Georgia State Panthers - 2-0 (0-0)

The Georgia State Panthers are a cool 2-0 after going on the road and beating Rice in a game that wasn't very close. This team is a mix of veteran and young talent, with 6 of the players on the roster being JRs or above. GSU was a 20-13 team last year that finished 2nd in the Sun Belt with a conference record of 12-6. They lost 4 seniors from last year's team.

GSU STARTING LINEUP



***ROSTER COULD CHANGE - I PULLED THIS FROM GSU'S PREVIOUS GAME VS RICE***

ROSTER

GEORGIA STATE PANTHERS
NO NAME POS HT WT CLASS HOMETOWN
0 Nile Felton G 6-3 175 SO Atlanta, GA
1 Damon Wilson G 6-5 195 JR Atlanta, GA
2 Malik Benlevi F 6-5 205 JR Savannah, GA
10 Denis Alibegovic G 6-2 170 FR Downers Grove, IL
11 Isaiah Williams G 6-2 170 SR Buford, GA
12 Kane Williams G 6-3 185 FR Douglasville, GA
14 Chris Clerkley F 6-9 210 SO Perry, GA
15 D'Marcus Simonds G 6-3 200 SO Gainesville, GA
20 Josh Linder F 6-9 215 FR Kathleen, GA
23 Jordan Session F 6-8 225 SR Mcdonough, GA
24 Devin Mitchell G 6-4 195 JR Suwanee, GA
30 Jeff Thomas F 6-5 190 JR Norwalk, OH
35 Matt Chism G 6-3 185 FR Dawsonville, GA
50 Jordan Tyson F 6-9 230 JR Cincinnati, OH

ROSTER ANALYSIS

At first glance, this is a tall top to bottom lineup from top to bottom for the Panthers that enjoys playing small ball. They boast 4 players at 6'8" or taller, with three of them being 6'9". Lot of guards that are in the 6'2" - 6'4" range, so, when our roster is pitted against theirs, there isn't much difference, aside from the fact that our biggest guys are a few inches taller.

STATISTICS

GAME STATISTICS
Player GP MIN PPG RPG APG SPG BPG TPG FG% FT% 3P%
D'Marcus Simonds 2 30.0 17.0 8.5 8.5 2.5 0.5 1.5 .483 .714 .100
Malik Benlevi 2 33.0 14.0 6.5 3.0 3.0 0.0 1.0 .476 .667 .545
Devin Mitchell 2 26.0 13.0 1.0 2.0 0.5 0.0 0.5 .360 1.000 .350
Jeff Thomas 2 25.0 10.0 2.5 1.5 1.0 0.0 1.5 .381 1.000 .231
Jordan Session 2 20.0 7.5 6.5 1.0 2.5 1.0 1.5 .700 .250 .000
Isaiah Williams 2 22.0 7.0 1.5 1.5 2.0 0.0 1.0 .417 .000 .364
Jordan Tyson 2 17.0 7.0 4.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.5 .778 .000 .000
Josh Linder 2 10.0 5.0 2.0 0.5 1.0 0.0 1.0 .571 .667 .000
Kane Williams 2 9.5 1.5 1.5 2.5 0.5 0.0 0.5 1.000 .500 .000
Matt Chism 2 2.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 .000 .500 .000
Nile Felton 2 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 .000 .000 .000
Chris Clerkley 2 2.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 .000 .000 .000
Denis Alibegovic 2 3.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 .000 .000 .000
Totals 2 -- 83 37 21 13 3 10 .468 .583 .304
SEASON STATISTICS
Player MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA 3PM 3PA PTS OFFR DEFR REB AST TO STL BLK
D'Marcus Simonds 60 14 29 5 7 1 10 34 3 14 17 17 3 5 1
Malik Benlevi 66 10 21 2 3 6 11 28 7 6 13 6 2 6 0
Devin Mitchell 52 9 25 1 1 7 20 26 0 2 2 4 1 1 0
Jeff Thomas 50 8 21 1 1 3 13 20 2 3 5 3 3 2 0
Jordan Session 40 7 10 1 4 0 0 15 5 8 13 2 3 5 2
Isaiah Williams 44 5 12 0 0 4 11 14 0 3 3 3 2 4 0
Jordan Tyson 34 7 9 0 1 0 0 14 3 5 8 0 1 0 2
Josh Linder 20 4 7 2 3 0 0 10 1 3 4 1 2 2 0
Kane Williams 19 1 1 1 2 0 0 3 1 2 3 5 1 1 0
Matt Chism 4 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nile Felton 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chris Clerkley 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Denis Alibegovic 6 0 4 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals -- 65 139 14 24 21 69 165 24 50 74 41 19 26 5

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

The Panthers boast a bit more evenly distributed scoring than the Colonels of EKU did - 7 players average 7PPG or more. They rely on good guard play from Simonds and Benlevi, with help in the paint and on the glass from FWDS Thomas and Session. They share the ball well (21 APG), are a decent rebounding team (37 RBG), and shoot a good 46.8% from the field. They are a mediocre 3P shooting team (30.4%), are bad from the free throw line (58.3%), and don't get to the line very often (24 FTs in 2 games combined). Another interesting stat - they are currently averaging a whopping 13 steals per game.

PREDICTION

This one could get tricky for the Rebels if we aren't able to control the paint and the offensive glass. They aren't a good 3P shooting team, but shoot a lot of 3's (69 in 2 games), which indicates to me that they have decent shooting that has been cold these past 2 games. If we can deter them from getting hot from 3 and not turn the ball over too many times, I believe the rebels will take this game.

Rebels win 81-75 in a tight one. TD makes a few plays late to give us the edge, Hymon battles it down low en route to a 10-12 RB game, Shuler knocks down 3 threes, and the Rebels move to 3-0 on the season. This would be a decent tournament win as this team will probably win 20+ games this year.

Defense: optional

GSU in a lot of foul trouble. They've already had 1 guy foul out and are playing 5 guys with 3 or more fouls, 3 of which have 4.

Edit - TD just fouled out.

I think that is going to be a very good win as the season progresses. Certainly one we had to have and could not let slip away.

quote:

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I don't mind. We've won 3 games over 3 teams that legitimately should win their conferences

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Georgia State and ULL can't both win their conference.

Finally got to go to a game. That Simonds dude could ball and could start in the SEC. Thought the defense did the exact thing AK complained of, play hard defense until about 10 on the shot clock and give up a drive in the lane or open 3.

I was most frustrated that we couldn’t do anything to stop that guy. We knew he was their guy, they really didn’t have much else and we still let him put up 19 in the first half.


Other thing that is apparent to me is that Crawford is the glue of this team right now. I don’t know if we win that game last night without him. He’s not flashy but his free throws and big plays second half really held us together

Anybody staying up tomorrow night?

11:30 tip?

Will the game be on TV?