Rebels Prepare for Upcoming In-State Rival Mississippi State

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

The Ole Miss men’s basketball team prepares to face in-state rival Mississippi State on Saturday at 5 p.m. inside the Pavilion.

This week, the Rebels (12-8, 7-6 SEC) had their game against the LSU Tigers postponed due to the winter weather in the Oxford area.

“Kinda typical of this year with COVID — everybody is flexible,” head coach Kermit Davis said in a press conference on Thursday. “With the snow and ice, both teams LSU and (us) were looking forward to playing on Wednesday and got it moved to today. It was going to be a quadrant one opportunity for both teams. Obviously, the weather just didn’t cooperate.”

According to Davis, Ole Miss quickly turned its attention to the Bulldogs. 

“A huge game for us and a huge game for them,” Davis said. “A game that I know both teams will really look forward to playing.”

The Rebels have managed to get in a couple of days of practice, even dealing with the weather conditions in town, Davis said.

“We needed to have two really good days of practice leading up to Saturday’s game,” Davis said. “We took off Sunday and missed Monday because the facilities were closed. No player has gotten in his car. We would just go get them physically and bring them here, feed them and then take them back.”

Ole Miss has four regular-season games remaining in the regular season and on a four-game winning streak with two top 10 victories in that stretch. The Rebels are in a good place to make the NCAA Tournament. Davis and his staff have kept the team from looking too far ahead.

“I just use the term chasing,” Davis said. “Men were chasing … and we are still chasing I mean, we are on the outside and have made up some ground. What we have to do is control every day. You can’t just be hungry to play this time of the year — you got to be hungry to practice.”

Fans can watch the in-state rival matchup on the SEC Network at 5 p.m.