Ole Miss blown out by OU
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Ole Miss basketball team that was projected to finish in last place in the SEC waited until the NCAA Tournament to show up.
After a season of defying expectations that culminated in the Rebels appearing in their first NCAA Tournament since 2015, that Rebels team saw its season end in blowout fashion Friday afternoon in South Carolina, as No. 8 Ole Miss' defense was overwhelmed in a 9572 defeat to No. 9 Oklahoma. Ole Miss finishes its season with a 20-13 record, losing six of its final eight games.
"This is not going to define who we are," Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis said. "When we took the season over and based on how much progress we've made in a year, I'm proud of these guys. They were unbelievable all year long. We didn't play like we wanted to today. But to be with this group the whole year, I'm extremely excited about our future."
Defense has never been Ole Miss' strength this season, but Friday represented a low point. Oklahoma's 95 points were the most Ole Miss has allowed this season, surpassing the 90 points Florida scored against the Rebels in an overtime game and were the most Ole Miss has allowed in regulation since Kentucky scored 96 points against the Rebels on Feb. 28, 2018.
Absolutely nothing worked for the Ole Miss defense in the first half. The Rebels allowed a season-high 50 points in the first half as Oklahoma shot 57.6 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from 3-point distance. The Sooners jumped out to a 12-0 lead and made 14 of 18 shots in the first 10 minutes of the game, good for a 77.8 percent success rate.
"They just went and exploited mismatches," Ole Miss senior guard Terence Davis said. "That's what Oklahoma does. And that's what they did."
Ole Miss tried all three of its defensive sets, switching from man-to-man to the 1-3-1 zone to a 2-3 zone, but none of the approaches managed to stifle Oklahoma's charge. Self-inflicted mistakes magnified this, as Ole Miss committed 11 fouls and gave up 12 points off nine turnovers, while Oklahoma only turned the ball over once in the first half. Oklahoma also bullied the Rebels in the paint in the first 20 minutes, outscoring the Rebels 24-10 down low.
The Rebels trailed by as many as 22 points in the first half and went into halftime facing a 50-33 deficit. Despite the deficit, Ole Miss' offense played well in the opening period, shooting 52 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from 3-point distance with guards Terence Davis and Devontae Shuler both scoring in double figures. But the turnover and foul issues limited Ole Miss' offense early, as Bruce Stevens and Dominik Olejniczak were only able to combine for four of the Rebels' 33 points.
"We got in foul trouble a lot," Stevens said. "We fouled a lot. We weren't as aggressive as we should be and we were at the beginning of the year. But that's how it is."
Ole Miss' second half wasn't worse than the first, but it wasn't exactly better either. The Rebels came out of the half hot and trimmed the Oklahoma lead to as few as 12 points. But Ole Miss' offense disappeared after that early run, and whatever halftime adjustments Ole Miss tried to make on defense didn't pan out. The Sooners made eight of their first 12 shots and shot 57.7 percent from the field for the half, while Ole Miss' offense slowed to a 43.2 shooting percentage in the final 20 minutes.
Terence Davis led Ole Miss with 17 points, while Shuler added 13 points playing in a return game of sorts in his hometown.
Contact Nick Suss at 601-408-2674 or nsuss@gannett.com. Follow @nicksuss on Twitter.