Rebels focused on Razorbacks
OXFORD - The talk of the NCAA Tournament bubble, the RPI, bracketology, first four in and first four out always ramps up around this time of year.
It’s almost impossible to ignore ... even for the coaches.
“I think people that say, ‘We don’t really think about those things,’ they’re not being truthful,” Andy Kennedy said. “It’s everywhere ...”
And Ole Miss has an important game in those terms coming up at Arkansas, which sits directly above the Rebels in the SEC standings and is 34th in RPI, on Saturday (5 p.m., SEC Network).
While the stakes loom large for an Ole Miss team looking to improve its NCAA Tournament standing, Kennedy isn’t beating his squad over the head with the specifics.
“Going into Arkansas, we’re not talking about RPI, must wins — we don’t get into that. You just can’t do that in basketball,” Kennedy said. “People get into a mentality of once-a-week football where you want to say, ‘Hey man, this is the endall, be-all.’ In basketball, it just comes so quickly. We’ve played 26 games — regardless of what happens Saturday and I hope that we go down and play well ... we’re going to fly back, we’ll digest what just transpired and get ready for the next one.”
The importance of this game is just that — it is the next one. And the Rebels (16-10, 7-6 SEC) don’t have too many “next ones” left. Five games remain in the regular season for a team that doesn’t really own a signature victory at the moment.
Sure, the Auburn and LSU comebacks were nice and kept whatever Ole Miss’ NCAA hopes are alive, but those two teams are a combined 6-20 in conference play.
The Rebels were 66th in RPI as of Friday morning. They’re 1-9 against the RPI’s top 50 teams. The lone win was a come-from-behind home victory against Tennessee, which is 45th.
Ole Miss was in good position to beat Creighton (RPI: 18) and Baylor (RPI: 1), but both of those games slipped away down the stretch, which makes this final run so important for the Rebels’ tournament hopes.
“We’ve got to get at least four of the five (games left) and make some noise in the SEC Tournament,” Ole Miss guard Terence Davis said. “Coach always puts in our ear that we’re right there, top six in the league. So there’s opportunities out there.”
The Rebels can’t a loss to a team like Mississippi State (RPI: 123) or Missouri (RPI: 246) and would be helped with a win against No. 19 South Carolina, which beat Ole Miss by 11 earlier this season. A few SEC Tournament wins wouldn’t hurt either.
But first things come first, and that happens to be the Razorbacks.
Arkansas (19-7, 8-5) is one of those bubble teams, but it did itself a favor with a road win Wednesday against South Carolina. That helps since the Razorbacks have a bad loss to next-to-last place Missouri on their resume.
“We’ve got to handle their pressure, we’ve got to attack and can’t allow the game to be free and easy,” Kennedy said. “We’ve been able to overcome it at home because you play through the energy of the other people in the building. You don’t get that on the road, so it’s harder to dig yourself out of those holes. So we’ve got to get good defensively.”
Four players average more than 11 points for Arkansas, so it’s a balanced unit with guard Dusty Hannahs (14.9) leading the way. Davis has scored 59 points in his last three halves of basketball.