Game Preview: Mississippi
Above: The four coaches that still have their teams playing in the NIT, are from left to right, Ohio State’s Thad Matta, Mississippi’s Andy Kennedy, Massachusetts’ Travis Ford, and Florida’s Billy Donovan. AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
Date: Tuesday, April 1
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
Place: Madison Square Garden - capacity 19,736
TV: ESPN2 with Ron Franklin former Ohio State assistant Fran Fraschilla, Bill Raftery, and Allen Hopkins.
Radio: WBNS-AM 1460 and WBNS-FM 97.1 in Columbus and 58 more stations across Buckeyeland with Paul Keels and Ron Stokes.
Series History: Ohio State has never played Mississippi until tonight.
Ole Miss’ Starting Five:
C 44 Dwayne Curtis - 6-8, 262, Sr. (15.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 1.0 apg)
F 50 Kenny Williams - 6-8, 240, Sr. (8.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.0 apg)
G 14 Eniel Polynice - 6-5, 216, So. (10.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 4.0 apg)
G 33 David Huertas - 6-5, 197, So. (10.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.9 apg)
G 12 Chris Warren - 5-10, 170, Fr. (15.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 4.5 apg)
OSU’s Starting Five:
F 31 Kosta Koufos - 7-0, 265, Fr. (14.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 0.5 apg)
F 45 Othello Hunter - 6-8, 225, Sr. (9.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 0.8 apg)
C 21 Evan Turner - 6-6, 200, Fr. (7.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.5 apg)
G 23 David Lighty - 6-5, 215, So. (8.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.3 apg)
G 14 Jamar Butler - 6-1, 185, Sr. (14.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6.0 apg)
Right: Mississippi’s point guard and leading scorer, Chris Warren (12).
Orlando Sentinel Photo
Mississippi comes into tonight’s semifinal match-up against Ohio State with a record of 24-10 after Ole Miss upset Virginia Tech, 81-72 last Wednesday, as the Rebels shot 49 percent in the game, paced by freshman point guard Chris Warren’s 22 points.
Warren leads the Rebels in scoring, averaging 15.7 points per game, and scored 22 against the Hokies. Warren is averaging 18.7 points in the NIT through three games.
Ole Miss advanced with an 83-68 victory over UC-Santa Barbara, then took down Nebraska, 85-75, with both games played in Oxford, Miss, before Rebels traveled to Blacksburg to take on the Hokies.
Scouting Report (from Yahoo! Sports): Sophomore G David Huertas has given the Rebels a lift with 60 points in his last three games, which has opened up the inside for C Dwayne Curtis. Curtis and Kenny Williams have combined for 63 rebounds in the last three games. The guy who makes the Rebels go, however, is freshman PG Chris Warren. He can shoot the three, though he is streaky, and is a good assist man. The bench was tested when G Eniel Polynice, the team’s top defender, couldn’t play against UC-Santa Barbara because of a sore knee. Little-used freshman Rodney Jones gave the Rebels 22 minutes of solid play, especially on the defensive end.
Keys to the Game: Kosta Koufos inside against shorter, yet more physical post players for Mississippi. He needs to play well and score in the paint.
We know that Jamar Butler will have a good game, but outside of him and Koufos, someone needs to step up. Evan Turner and Jon Diebler did that in the second half against Dayton, and it will need to happen again.
Rebound and attack the basket, especially when the three-point shots aren’t falling.
