When
Saturday, February 22
2:30pm CST
Where
Memorial Gym
If you aren’t there you are clearly demonstrating that you hate Coach Mark Byington,
Jason Edwards, and this team! THEY ALL NEED US THERE AS THE ALL-IMPORTANT
SIXTH MAN!!!
TV/Streaming
SECN/ESPN App
Radio
94.9 FM Locally
SiriusXM 382 for Vandy Broadcast
Rankings
AP: Ole Miss #24, Vanderbilt Unranked
Kenpom: Ole Miss 23, Vanderbilt 47
NET: Ole Miss 24, Vanderbilt 44
Bracketmatrix: Ole Miss 6, Vanderbilt 11
Spread
Vanderbilt -1.5 (+100)
Vanderbilt ML (-110)
per FanDuel Sportsbook
How We Got Here
In the second year of Chris Beard coaching in Oxford, the Rebels have found themselves among some of the country’s best teams, despite being a “middle of the pack” SEC team. I mean, the strength of the SEC this year . . . Tennessee is in 6th place in the conference despite being ranked #6 nationally. The Rebels have pulled off some impressive wins this year, beating Louisville, BYU, Alabama, and Kentucky. This definitely isn’t a team you can sleep-walk against, but also isn’t a team you have to fear. Ole Miss has some ‘not so great’ losses in Memphis and Mississippi State (sweep) but are still a “lock” to get in the tournament. Any additional wins just improve their seeding.
On the other hand, it is another must-win game at Memorial in Mark Byington’s first year, and boy-oh-boy is it sweet to play meaningful games in February. Tuesday night the Commodores traveled up to Lexington, Kentucky where their goal was to snap the two-game losing skid (albeit to Auburn and at Tennessee). After hanging in shot-for-shot with the Wildcats, (who couldn’t seem to miss) for the majority of the first half, the Commodores found themselves only down 1 point at halftime. Stop me when you have heard this too many times before . . the second half started with Kentucky going on a run that would eventually pull them far enough ahead to secure the victory. Vanderbilt struggled in the second half creating successful scoring chances and getting key stops. The loss against the short-handed Wildcats (Butler and Robinson did not play due to injury) puts the Commodores half a step behind on the bubble, but a win Saturday could cure some of these issues. One of the good things about the SEC this year is that despite having a good chance of losing on a night-in night-out basis, almost every game ends up being a Quad 1 game. The Commodores have 5 games remaining, all of them are Quad 1. From the looks of most expert opinions, Vanderbilt needs to win two more games to clinch a spot in the field of 68 come March, and a win Saturday puts them back in the driver’s seat.
What to Expect
Like many Chris Beard teams we have seen before, the Rebels rely on defense to carry them to victory. Nationally, the Rebels are top 30 in blocks, 3-point percentage, defensive rebounding, and assist-to-turnover ratio. Offensively, the only thing they seem to excel in is having the nation's 7th best assist-to-turnover ratio. Sean Pedulla leads the team in scoring at 14.6 points per game, but the Rebels have a very balanced scoring attack, including 6 players averaging double-digit points. One of these players is familiar to Commodore fans, local prospect Malik Dia. Malik came to Vanderbilt for his freshman year after graduating from Ensworth High School, transferred to Belmont for his sophomore season, and is now playing at Ole Miss, where he seems to have found himself at home. Dia is an instrumental part of the Rebel offense, and they will need to see him shine to get the win on the road.
The difference in play we have seen from the Commodores at Memorial Gym and away has been nothing short of astonishing. Luckily for Commodore fans this game will be played at home on Saturday and this team knows it needs to put on a show. I will not be giving individual player predictions this game as I was horribly wrong last time, and am forever scared of being a jinx. IF the ‘Dores have a rocking, full-house, black and gold crowd on Saturday afternoon I believe the team will ‘get it done’. Personally, I would like to see Vanderbilt be the team that was “too hot for anyone to beat” this week for once.
Chef Miller’s Prediction
82-78 Dores Dub
Start getting fit for dancing shoes
