Andy Kennedy has known Michael White for some time.
The Ole Miss men’s basketball coach employed White as an assistant coach from 2006-11 before White left to become head coach at Louisiana Tech in 2011.
White led Louisiana Tech to a 101-40 record and three trips to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in four seasons before he was hired at Florida on May 7, 2015.
Kennedy’s familiarity with White gives him an idea about what the No. 24 Gators (10-3, 1-0 SEC) will do at 6 tonight (ESPNU) when they play host to the Rebels (9-4, 0-1) No. 24 Gators (10-3, 1-0) at the Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O’Connell
Center.
“I’m not sure I would say easier, but he and I both have a good understanding of the way his team plays, the way my team plays,” Kennedy said Monday in a SEC teleconference. “The reality is we’re both 13 games into this; he’s got a pretty experienced team that’s playing with a real sense of urgency.”
White took over at Florida for Billy Donovan, who left to become the coach of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder. He finished 21-15 and 9-9 in the SEC. Florida made it to the third round of the NIT, where it lost to George Washington 82-77.
White and the Gators beat the Rebels 80-71 on Jan. 16 in Oxford and 77-72 on Feb. 9 at home last season.
After Kennedy took over the Ole Miss program in 2006, he retained White, who served two seasons under former Ole Miss coach Rod Barnes, who is now the coach at California State Bakersfield. In five seasons together, Kennedy and White led the Rebels to four 20-win seasons and four NIT berths, including two NIT Final Four appearances. Ole Miss won SEC Western Division titles in 2007 and 2010.
Although Kennedy doesn’t think preparing for Florida will be easier because he has worked with him, he feels like White’s coaching philosophy hasn’t changed much from his days at Louisiana Tech.
“Mike has stayed to the formula, really, of the way he coached at Louisiana Tech: They’re going to defend, pressure, be smart, and getting too exposed as it relates to trap, they’re going to play with tempo and he has really, really fast guards, so they kind of spread you in the half-court and let those fast guards do what they do,” Kennedy said.
Ole Miss might have the toughest two-game opening stretch in the SEC. Ole Miss lost 99-76 at home to No. 6 Kentucky last Thursday. Florida is the SEC’s only other ranked team. But with two tough games to start conference action, Kennedy is thinking about how the games might benefit his team later in the season.
“We knew opening up with Kentucky was going to generate a lot of excitement,” Kennedy said. “We had a great crowd, and I really appreciate the Ole Miss faithful coming out and doing their job. Unfortunately we didn’t do ours.”
The Rebels trailed the Wildcats 60-39 at halftime and Kennedy said his team faced adversity early in that game and “kind of caved” to it and couldn’t bounce back.
“I just felt like with the veteran guys we had coming into the program we would have a little more stability, a little more poise amidst adversity and that has not transpired to the level that I would have hoped,” Kennedy said. “We’re still new into this journey and we’re learning about each other, and my hope is we’ll grow into that.”
The Rebels have three seniors, including three-year letterman Sebastian Saiz. The senior forward is averaging 15.8 points and a SEC-high 12.2 rebounds per game. Miami transfer Deandre Burnette is third in the SEC at 19.2 points per game. Junior guard Cullen Neal, a graduate transfer from New Mexico, is averaging 11.3 points, while sophomore guard Terence Davis is averaging 12.3 ppg.
After losing back-to-back games to Duke and Florida State on Dec. 6 and Dec. 11, Florida has won three in a row. Florida opened SEC play last Thursday with an 81-72 win at Arkansas. The Gators had four players score in double figures. KeVaughn Allen led the way with 21 points. He leads the Gators in scoring (14.2 ppg.).
Alabama’s King out
Alabama junior guard Nick King will miss his sixth-straight game with a lung infection, Alabama coach Avery Johnson announced Monday.
Alabama (7-5) will take on Mississippi State (9-3) at 7:30 tonight (SEC Network) in Humphrey Coliseum in the SEC opener for both teams. Johnson said it all started in Las Vegas when the Crimson Tide played two games in the 2016 Main Event on Nov. 21 and Nov. 23. King played in both games and played in the next two games, drawing starts.
King, who is averaging 3.3 points per game, missed a 65-56 loss to Oregon on Dec. 11 and hasn’t played since.
“He’s been on some medicine and been in rehab,” Johnson said. “There’s no time table for his return. But he’s back and just lightly riding the bike and just basically rehabbing and trying to get his strength back. He’s been totally inactive for close to over a month. We’re hoping in the next two to three weeks we’ll be able to potentially be able to get him back in practice and then we’ll go from there.”
King sat out last season after transferring from Memphis.
Alabama has won two in a row and three of the last four. The loss was a 67-54 decision to Clemson on Dec. 18 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Johnson has used six starting lineups in part because the Crimson Tide are a “relatively new team.” He said most of his starters weren’t starters a year ago.
“We’re still working out some of the offensive and defensive things we need to continue to grow and develop and mature,” Johnson said.
Redshirt freshman guard Dazon Ingram has started every game, while freshman froward Braxton Key has started the last eight games. Both lead the Crimson Tide with 9.7 ppg.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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