A three-game winning streak made Ole Miss fight for an NCAA tournament offer.
The rebels (11-8, 6-6 Southeast Conference) overthrew number 16 in Tennessee and number 10 in Missouri during this period. Ole Miss now plays three of his next four on the road, starting with a trip to Columbia to face South Carolina on Saturday night.
“We spent a lot of time with our team individually and in groups after a loss (on January 30) to Georgia,” said Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis. “It wasn’t so much because we hammered them physically. It wasn’t a tough thing or three-hour training. It was probably more mental stuff and bringing our team together. We still knew. We practiced well and I think it’s just being successful.”
Devontae Shuler continues to show why he is one of the main guards at the conference, as the Rebels’ senior has averaged 18.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in the last three games.
Shuler (15.5 points per game in the season) hit 35.3 percent in the 3-point range and hit 10 points out of every 25 attempts in the last three games. Shuler’s jump 0.2 seconds from the end on Saturday was the deciding factor in Ole Miss’s victory in overtime over Auburn.
South Carolina (5-8, 3-6) resisted SEC leader Alabama on Tuesday, but ended up falling 81-78 as its frustrating season continued.
The Gamecocks lost 79-76 with four seconds left and gained possession after a steal from Keyshawn Bryant (14.5 points, 5.3 rebounds per game). But instead of creating a 3-point equalizer as coach Frank Martin had drawn, Jermaine Couisnard hit Justin Minaya for an undisputed tray. Then, South Carolina failed against Alabama’s James Rojas, who made two free throws.
“Instead of doing what we asked, we had no mental connection to the situation, but that’s the story of the whole season,” said Martin. “And it is no longer (COVID-19) sorry. We have been training for three weeks. It is no longer an excuse for that. That is the story of the whole season is our inability to have five guys on the same page.”
Shuler will face another of the SEC’s best guards, AJ Lawson of South Carolina, who averages 17.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Lawson scored five points out of 3 and led the Gamecocks with 21 points against Alabama, but Seventh Woods struggled with problems despite a total of 11 points and four assists.
Both teams are among the best in the country in forcing the turnaround, with South Carolina opponents receiving an average of 16.9 prizes per game. Ole Miss forced opponents to commit 16.7 turnovers per game.
Gamecocks had trouble protecting the ball, making 15.5 spins per game.
– Field-level media