Alabama Basketball Opponent Preview: Ole Miss Rebels

The 7th-ranked Alabama basketball team looks to improve on its 11-2 record when it hosts the Ole Miss Rebels on Tuesday night.

The Rebels haven’t been great this season, compiling an 8-5 record and beating just one high major team (Stanford). Ole Miss’ losses, all of which have been fairly competitive, include a 68-57 defeat at Memphis. Memphis lost to Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and remains the only common opponent between Bama and Ole Miss.

The Rebels’ most recent game was arguably the most impressive on its resume, as it nearly upset a top-10 team in Tennessee. Ole Miss led at halftime before falling 63-59. Maybe this performance was a fluke, but the Crimson Tide will take it as an indication not to underestimate the Rebels.

Under Nate Oats, Alabama basketball has sometimes shown a propensity for mixing mind-boggling losses in with galvanizing wins. Last year, Alabama was notoriously the only SEC (or high-major) team to lose to Georgia all season. Ole Miss isn’t nearly that bad, but they have consistently been a bottom-tier SEC team under Kermit Davis.

It is also important to note that this Ole Miss game is precariously placed between two ranked opponents for Alabama. The Tide won a hard-fought road game at Mississippi State last week, and it will host Kentucky this weekend. This looks like a textbook trap game. According to head coach Nate Oats, however, Bama isn’t taking the bait.

Alabama Basketball: Ole Miss Personnel

Junior Matthew Murrell, a 6’4” guard, is the Rebels’ leading scorer and only player averaging double figures. Murrell is averaging 14.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.7 steals per game.

Freshman guard Amaree Abram is shooting over 40 percent from the three-point line, averaging 9.1 points and 2.2 assists per game.

Sophomore guard Daeshun Ruffin has added a spark in his return from a serious knee injury. The 5’9” Ruffin has appeared in six games, averaging 9.5 points and 3.3 assists per game.

Junior forward Jaemyn Brakefield leads Ole Miss in the frontcourt. At 6’8”, the former Duke transfer shoots the ball well and brings athleticism to the wing. He has posted numbers of 8.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game thus far.

Senior forward Myles Burns is a physical presence in the paint. The transfer from NAIA Loyola-New Orleans is undersized at 6’6”, but plays extremely hard. He averages just 7.0 points per game, but adds team-high averages of 6.8 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game. Burns and Brakefield could share the responsibility of guarding Brandon Miller.

6’7” Jackson State transfer Jayveous McKinnis and 6’11” Louisiana transfer Theo Abwuka, both seniors, will also attempt to challenge the Alabama frontcourt.

Can Alabama Basketball take care of business?

Ole Miss has good guards in Murrell, Abram, and Ruffin, but I would give Alabama’s trio of Mark Sears, Jaden Bradley, and Jahvon Quinerly the backcourt edge.

Alabama should also have a significant advantage in the paint over the undersized Rebels. Noah Clowney, Charles Bediako, Noah Gurley, and Nick Pringle make the Crimson Tide a relentless force on the glass.

While he hasn’t always been consistent, freshman wing Brandon Miller is the ultimate X-factor. His shot-making ability and tendency to score in spurts raises Alabama’s ceiling in any given game.

Alabama basketball has put an extra emphasis on growth and maturity this season. If the team is as focused as Coach Oats insists it is, Bama should handle Ole Miss in Coleman Coliseum.