Ole Miss Falls to the Commodores on Senior Night

Ole Miss Senior Day. Photo by Joshua McCoy / Ole Miss Sports

The Ole Miss Rebels basketball team struggled against Vanderbilt as they fell 82-69 at home to close out the regular season.
Ole Miss (12-19, 5-13 SEC) looked to send its seniors out on a winning note, but the Rebels’ defense was unable to keep the Commodores from draining the three-balls on the night.
“We just didn’t defend like we needed to,” Ole Miss acting head coach Todd Madlock said. “That was a good three-point shooting team. That was the game plan, we cannot let them get off clean with threes and for them to make 12 is unacceptable.”
The Rebels were led in scoring by Bruce Stevens with 17 points. Stevens scored 15 of his points hitting six of seven shots in the first half. Three of his teammates joined Stevens in double figures on the night as Terrence Davis put up 15 points, Breein Tyree poured in 11 of his own and Markell Crawford added 10.
Vanderbilt took a 45-44 advantage into the break behind a strong game from Jeff Roberson who led the Commodores with 19 points.
As the second half opened up, the Commodores continued its outside shooting. They finished the game shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc and 53 percent from the field. This was the first victory on the road for Vandy in 13 games.
“At home, we have really played offensively like we did today,” Vanderbilt head coach Bryce Drew said. “We moved the ball, we shot better at home. It was nice that it became contagious like it did today. When we can get in a lane and make an extra pass, you have to make shots. This is the best we have shot from three on the road, and I thought Max Evans and Clevon Brown were big on that. They were four for five combined, and that was something we were missing.”
Ole Miss will return to the court on Wednesday night as they take on South Carolina Gamecocks in the SEC Tournament. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.
“We talked about it being a new season,” Madlock said. “It is a fresh start, so now we are going to get back to work Monday and get ready for Wednesday night. We know where we are. We know the year we have had, so now let’s go in and give it everything we have. There is no tomorrow, we know that. So if you lose, you are done.”

Adam Brown is the sports editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.