Mississippi vs Kentucky....A Preview!

Lwcat
Wildcats Thunder Administrator

Mississippi vs Kentucky
(2/27/08-Wed.-8PM-Raycom)

Mississippi

Head Coach: Andy Kennedy

Asst Coach at S. Alabama: 1 year
Asst. Coach at UAB: 5 years
Asst. Coach at Cincinnati: 4 years
Interim Head Coach at Cincinnati: 1 year (21-13..NIT)
Head coach at Mississippi: 1 year (Record 21-13..NIT)

2007/08 Record: 18-8
SEC Record: 4-8

Mississippi 97 Mississippi Valley State 63
Mississippi 81 S. Alabama 78
Mississippi 108 Lamar 70
Mississippi 94 Louisiana-Monroe 70
Mississippi 102 Troy 76
Mississippi 85 New Mexico 77
Mississippi 76 UCF 67
Mississippi 76 Winthrop 71
Mississippi 69 DePaul 63
Mississippi 84 LaSalle 77
Mississippi 85 Clemson 82
Mississippi 78 Southern Miss 58
Mississippi 86 Alabama A&M 50
Tennessee 85 Mississippi 83
Mississippi 74 LSU 71
Mississippi 89 Florida 87
Auburn 80 Mississippi 77
Mississippi State 88 Mississippi 68
Mississippi 74 Vanderbilt 58
South Carolina 80 Mississippi 77
Arkansas 75 Mississippi 69
Mississippi 66 Presbyterian 55
Alabama 76 Mississippi 67
Auburn 90 Mississippi 78
Mississippi 74 Mississippi State 63
LSU 69 Mississippi 49

Projected Starting Lineup

Chris Warren G 5’10” Fr. (PPG-15.2) Ave. Minutes PG:30.7
Dwayne Curtis C 6’8” (PPG-14.1) Ave. Minutes PG: 29.4
Eniel Polynice G 6’5” Soph. (PPG-11.6) Ave. Minutes PG: 28.7
David Huertas G 6’5” Jr. (PPG-9.2) Ave. Minutes PG: 23.7
Kenny Williams F 6’8” Sr. (PPG-7.9) Minutes PG: 25.7

Team Stats:

PPG: 79.5
FG%: 45.5%
3 Point FG%: 35.6
FT%: 63.7%
Rebounds PG: 41.2 (+5.6)
Assists PG: 16.1
TO’s PG: 12.8
Steals PG: 7.2
Blocks PG: 3.7

Ole Miss started the season like a house of fire winning their first 13 games and 15 of their first 16 games. Since then, the Rebels have dropped 7 of their last 10 games. The big problem for Ole Miss this year is getting wins on the road….they are a miserable 0-6 in SEC road games thus far. Still, Ole Miss has quality wins over Vandy and Florida at home, and lost to Tennessee by only 2 points at home. So, although the Rebels have not done well on the road, they are still a formidable opponent. Ole Miss is lead in scoring by Freshman Chris Warren…he is shooting 37.4% from the 3 point line and leads the team in assists averaging nearly 5 per game. Dwayne Curtis is deadly in the paint shooting 64.5% while leading the Rebels in rebounding with 9 boards per game. In addition, senior Kenny Williams is a big strong inside player who is hitting over 50% inside the paint and pulling down 7 rebounds per game. Trevor Gaskins comes off the bench and hits 42.6% of his 3 point shots….very dangerous from the outside. The Rebels essentially use an 8 man rotation with all getting 13 plus minutes. Certainly, Andy Kennedy is one of the bright young coaches in the SEC and he will have the Ole Miss ready to play…as they hope to capture their first SEC road win at legendary Rupp arena!

The Cats continue to play inspired and tough minded basketball which has paid off in garnering a number of hard fought wins in close games. UK continues to ride on the great performances of Bradley, Crawford and Patterson. However, Stevenson, Jasper and Harris are playing very well defensively while adding occasional offense. Importantly, Stevenson hit some key buckets in the Arkansas game and he appears to be gaining more and more confidence on the offensive end. UK has now won 8 of their last 9 games….they aren’t always pretty, but these Cats are more and more taking on the tough mindedness of Coach Gillispie and they are seeing very positive results. Bradley and Crawford are now taking the ball to the basket more and more and the payoff in many instances has been buckets scored or free throws. Both Bradley and Crawford are very good free throw shooters so this has helped the Cats in many of these close wins. The Cats are still eyeing a possible NCAA bid and they know the importance of continuing to add more wins to their resume. The Ole Miss game will likely be a hard fought contest, but the Cats are playing with increasing confidence and I like UK over Ole Miss in another close game. Go Cats!