Andy Kennedy is in an unenviable position.
His University of Mississippi men”s basketball team lost five of its past six games following a 12-3 start. The Rebels lost to the University of Florida and Mississippi State by five before losing their next three by an average of 16 points.
Ole Miss also has lost three straight at home, including a 74-58 loss to Tennessee last week.
With No. 10 Kentucky (16-4, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) set to enter Tad Smith Coliseum at 6 tonight (ESPNU), Ole Miss (13-8, 1-5) hopes it can piece together the positives and produce a season-changing win.
The task starts with shooting the ball better. The Rebels shot 26 percent from the floor against the Volunteers, and saw star point guard Chris Warren make just 6 of 21 shots.
Though Ole Miss has had its share of defensive concerns — it has allowed more than 70 points in five of six SEC games — Kennedy knows his team will need to score to compete with Kentucky.
“It”s difficult to win college basketball games when you don”t shoot at an efficient rate,” Kennedy said. “Defensively, I thought we stayed in the game with our effort. We just put so much pressure on our defense when we come up empty time and time again (against Tennessee).”
Ole Miss hasn”t shot the basketball well at home. In their home opener against MSU, the Rebels shot 34 percent from the field. Against Georgia, they shot 48 percent but trailed by as many as 27.
Kennedy said the team has practiced in the “Tad Pad” instead of its new practice facility to help cure the shooting woes, but the lack of production at home is still surprising.
“Typically, you”re more comfortable in your home environment and you”re better offensively at home,” Kennedy said, “I don”t know if it”s putting pressure on ourselves, or playing tight, or not being able to deliver consistently.”
Warren (team-leading 18.2 points per game) has made just 20 of 58 shots in the past four games. He has shot just 10 free throws in that span.
Kennedy has talked at length about Warren playing without the added pressure of being the team”s go-to player and hopes he can find a rhythm against the Wildcats.
“We”re sitting here with 10 games in the SEC left, and being a senior, at times, he feels like he has to go and make the play,” Kennedy said. “I thought he did that a little bit Saturday, which you can”t blame the effort. The execution fails us at times.”
Cal”s take on Rebels
If there”s one man who can make a dim situation glow, it”s Kentucky coach John Calipari.
A day before his Wildcats took on Rebels, Calipari, known for uncannily blending critical analysis and encouragement, weighed in about the Rebels” current slide.
“I just watched their last game, and if Tennessee doesn”t offensive rebound like they did in that game (Ole Miss) would have been up 10,” Calipari said. “They just couldn”t get a defensive rebound for one little stretch of the game.”
Calipari offered even more praise for Kennedy, noting the Rebels” spacing and ability to get to the free-throw line.
“Andy”s one of the best coaches around,” Calipari said. “We had (former NBA coach) Larry Brown here last week, and he thinks the world of him. And he doesn”t even know him that well. Just watching his teams play, his comment was, ”That guy can really coach.” I told Andy that.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.