It wasn’t always pretty, but Ole Miss handled South Carolina on the road on Saturday, winning his fourth straight in an 81-74 final.
Devontae Shuler, who lived at the end of the road in Irmo, SC, had a good homecoming, dropping 31 points, a career high to lead the Rebels in scoring. Jarkel Joiner had a rather difficult night, but it was not all his fault. Sure, he didn’t shoot very well after losing 21 on Wednesday against Missouri, but he also got punched in the left eye in the first half (an injury that tormented him throughout the game) and was called in by a coach who was, as the children say, “LITTLE MIJO” to “hang on the edge” after a dunk. It was stupid according to everyone on planet Earth, and we left Jarkel doing all the dunking and staying on the edge for as long as he wants. Release him.
See how a member of the public reacted. He writes for an important medium of communication, so you can trust your judgment.
The technical fault in Joiner is faaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt.
– Gray Hardison (@BellyoftheBeast) February 14, 2021
For those who are watching at home, Ole Miss is undefeated in his last two weeks of playing basketball. Prior to this timely winning streak, Ole Miss was averaging 63.1 PPG in conference games. In the midst of four consecutive victories, however, the rebels are averaging 74.8 PPG, which, according to our statistics department, is called “positive growth” *.
* We do not have a statistical department. I made this up, but it looked legit.
This is not to say that Ole Miss suddenly became a great team when it comes to throwing basketball, but they certainly looked better in the past few weeks than at the beginning of the SEC game.
To be honest, if Ole Miss wanted to stay in the conversation about the tournament after winning three consecutive victories, laying an egg in Columbia was not an option. The Fightin ‘Cocks were 104 on the NET arriving on Saturday (Ole Miss was 57, in comparison), so a defeat would essentially kill any hope of the NCAA tournament. To enter the tournament, you have to beat good and bad teams (# analysis), and dealing with Gamecocks on the road was what Ole Miss needed to keep rolling. Sure, things got complicated in the end, but a win is a win, especially at this point in the season, and that’s a good thing.
As of now, Ole Miss is off until next Saturday, when she hosts the State of Mississippi, but there have been rumors of the Rebels potentially catching a midweek game next week, according to Voice of Ole radio Miss David Kellum . So, we’ll see what happens, but for now, you can expect to see the Rebs again when they get dressed and try to complete a season sweep in the state on February 20. SEC Network.