The Creighton Men’s Basketball team heads on the road for the first time this season to take part in the final rounds of the Emerald Coast Classic. On Friday night, the Bluejays will take on Ole Miss and then will meet either Cincinnati or Middle Tennessee State on Saturday.
The roadtrip brings on new challenges–playing in a new environment, a new location, and a potentially tougher opponent. The Bluejays had several questions heading into the season, and the early home stretch has helped to answer a lot of those. So it may make things easier to focus on the “going on the road” situation.
Ole Miss heads into this game, winners of three straight after a season opening loss against Charleston Southern on a dunk at the end of the game. They may have their own questions yet that need to be answered. Helping give Jays fans a little insight into the Rebels, we got together with Jimmy Anderson who covers Ole Miss for the Daily Mississippian. Here is what he has to say about Mississippi.
White & Blue Review The SEC is known for their football programs and not necessarily for basketball. How important is basketball to Ole Miss? Is there a decent fan following?
Jimmy Anderson: As you know, outside of Kentucky and Florida, there isn’t much luster in the SEC for basketball. Vanderbilt, Alabama and Arkansas have been inconsistent and the rest of the SEC has been bad. Ole Miss basketball has taken the backseat to football and baseball. It’s behind those two sports. During the 2012-2013 season, Ole Miss won the SEC tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002. So to Andy Kennedy’s credit, he has done a great job making Ole Miss a consistent basketball team since he has been here. When this team is doing well, Ole Miss will get support, like what happened during that NCAA tourney year where they sold out a record 7 straight times.
WBR: What kind of expectations are there for Ole Miss hoops this season? Do they have the pieces in place to do what is needed?
JA: Well, no one thought they would drop the opener to Charleston Southern in overtime. I mean, I didn’t think so. The season is still there for the Rebels if they want to make any kind of postseason. Most of the talk before the year was this team could make the NCAA tournament this year. They return preseason All-SEC point guard in Jarvis Summers and get two JUCO transfers and two senior transfers that are all instant impact guys. If Kennedy can get them and the returning guys to gel and play well, the ceiling is there for postseason.
WBR: What kind of style do the Rebels play? Are they an up and down type of team on offense? What defense do they usually play?
JA: Kennedy likes to push the tempo when he can. He has the depth this year to do so. This team has turned the ball over quite a bit this year though some of it has been in the half court sets. His offense has always been in the mid to high 70’s since he has been here. On defense, Ole Miss does mix up defenses a little but it’s mainly just based on certain matchups. Man-to-man is the bread n’ butter of this defense. This team is long on the wing and the on ball defense is really good so they are able to play this well effectively most of the time.
WBR: With Marshall Henderson gone now, who is the leader for Ole Miss?
JA: Oh no doubt senior Jarvis Summers. Andy Kennedy repeatedly said last year that Jarvis was the MVP of the team. He broke out last year averaging over 17 points a game, over 40% shooting from three, and over 50% from the field. That led him to being picked preseason all-SEC like I mentioned before. He played horrible in the season opening loss against CSU and ended up fouling out before regulation ended if that tells you anything how valuable he is to this team. Ever since that game, he has led team in scoring and on the year he averages just over 14 points a game.
WBR: Who does Creighton need to look out for that might be a surprise?
JA: Ladarius “Snoop” White as they call him. He’s a senior G/F that has been one of the most productive players so far for Ole Miss. He is averaging a little over 11 points a game and has shot the ball well from the floor and from 3. The guy has all the tools to be a good basketball player in the SEC. He has just been inconsistent his first three years which has been holding him back. He will be key for the Rebels in this game I think to keep up this production.
WBR: What is your opinion on this event that Mississippi is a part of? Do they play in other more known exempt tournaments?
JA: I think it is good for the men’s basketball program and the exposure it gets. This is the seventh straight season that Ole Miss has played in an early season tournament and I know Andy Kennedy and his teams gain a lot from these tournaments which help prepare them for conference play. They play in the Charleston Classic next year that involves a pretty good field including Virginia and Oklahoma State. So tournaments like this year and past years allow Ole Miss basketball to stay competitive and relevant.
WBR: What is your final prediction? Who do you think will advance to the championship game on Saturday.
JA: IMO, this tournament could get overlooked. Ole Miss vs. Creighton and Cincy vs. MTSU are going to be great ones. Ole Miss really needs a win to overcome the early season head-scratcher and it won’t come against the Bluejays. I feel like Ole Miss won’t be able to keep up with Creighton scoring the basketball as well as their defense has played. The win will have to come against Cincy or MTSU but that won’t be easy either. I think Cincinnati will play Creighton in a clash of styles in the final and Creighton pulling it out. The Bearcats are good again this year even though they lost a fantastic player in Sean Kilpatrick. Creighton is playing too well though after upsetting Oklahoma at home and riding high ever since.