The Kermit Davis era got off to a strong start this past weekend as the Ole Miss Rebels moved to 5-2 after taking care of business, downing the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks 83-60.
In front of a crowd of more than 6,000 Rebel fans in The Pavilion, Ole Miss looked to have been shot out of a cannon early, the Rebels jumped out to a quick 14-5 lead just four minutes into the game. Breein Tyree had a quick seven points in those first four minutes of the half on what was a big day for the junior guard. Tyree recorded 20 points on 8-of-15 from the floor while connecting on 4-of-9 from deep.
“If it’s in coach’s offense and it’s a good shot, I’m most likely going to shoot it, as everybody knows I like to shoot the ball,” Tyree said.
Terence Davis had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Rebels, but it was Blake Hinson who caught fire, dropping in 17 points on 6-of-8 from the field. Hinson eclipsed his previous career high, which he set Wednesday night against San Diego. The sharpshooting freshman drilled four of five three point attempts en route to a career day.
“When you’re that talented as a young kid and you’re the first guy in the gym every single day, good things are going to happen to you,” head coach Kermit Davis said, who has been impressed with Hinson early in the season.
Size proved to be a positive factor throughout for the Rebels who dominated the glass with a 41-24 rebounding edge over a smaller ULM team. Ole Miss capitalized on their height advantage by attacking the rim and outscored ULM 36-18 in the painted area.
Kermit Davis was pleased with the way his team attacked the glass.
“If we can just continue that that’s how you can go on the road against top-level college basketball teams and win,” he said.
The seven-foot-tall junior center, Dominik Olejniczak, got the start and played a season high 21 minutes, scoring eight points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting.
The Rebels were taking and making their high percentage looks shooting 52 percent on 33-of-63 attempts including knocking down 11-of-29 from behind the arc. Ole Miss had a season high as they had 25 assists on their 33 made shots.
“Twenty five assists on 33 buckets, that’s about as good as you can get,” Kermit Davis said after the win.
The Rebels are back in action Saturday night as they hit the road to take on the 6-3 Illinois State Redbirds at 7 p.m. in Normal, Illinois.
