The Ole Miss basketball team used electric runs early and often to fend off Florida in a 68-51 victory at the Pavilion on Saturday.
The Rebels backcourt of Devontae Shuler and Breein Tyree shined throughout the afternoon with Shuler scoring 14 points and Tyree tallying 23.
“Those guys played like a really good college backcourt,” Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis said. “Breein had 23, but he affected that game in so many different ways, Devontae big steals and hands on balls.”
The Rebels were able to get off to a hot start in the first, but struggled defensively allowing four offensive rebounds, three of them coming in a single possession early on. The Rebels would continue to push the pace and scoring on offense with solid three-point shooting in the first going 4-8 from behind the line, while at the same time limiting Florida’s opportunity closing out effectively allowing only two threes on 10 attempts from the Gators.
Tyree played a very efficient first half scoring 12 points on only eight attempts from the field. Buffen held the team down on defense contributing one block and four rebounds, and also effectively guarded the Gator’s leading man Kerry Blackshear when asked to.
The presence of Blackshear led to some interesting moves by Coach Davis, deferring to Antavion Collum, to guard Florida’s man in the middle on multiple possessions, and this usage of Collum would only increase in the second half before going back to starter Khadim Sky to close. Ole Miss would make it difficult for Blackshear who only scored nine in the first and 14 on the game—most of the points coming by the way of free-throws.
The Rebels came out and were efficient from behind the three-point line as the second half moved on with big time threes from Tyree who coming off his 38-point explosion vs South Carolina had himself another big game scoring 23, and becoming the 9th all-time leading scorer in school history.
Although at the beginning of the second half, there were some moments that seemed almost reminiscent of the Auburn game as the Gators were able to get the lead down to single digits.
When asked about his usage of Collum to guard Blackshear, Coach Davis said “I was really proud of Dude (Collum), that was a tough matchup, usually he would guard the four, but he went and battled Blackshear, who is as good a low post scorer as anyone in our league, I just think his practices are so much better, he made a bucket today, I was just really proud of his effort.”
When the Gators, Coach Mike White was asked about today’s loss, he had nothing but praise for the Ole Miss team.
“They are better than their record.” he said. “It’s harder said than done to guard Breein Tyree. He’s just really good”
The Rebels come out of this one above .500 in the win column at 12-11, and gain their third sec win this season. Coach Davis, and the team hope to continue this win streak with upcoming rival Mississippi State making their way down to Oxford on Tuesday.
Although the Rebels are making a big push to salvage what looked like a lost season, the game against Mississippi State will show a lot about this team, and what they truly are.
