After a rough home non-conference slate Ole Miss starts their home SEC season with a convincing 65-49 victory over South Carolina. The biggest difference between the non-conference season and the SEC season is without a doubt the emergence of Junior Guard Stephan Moody.
Moody had 16 points and is drawing many comparisons to Marshall Henderson. While Moody and Henderson share many similarities the thing that separates them is mentality and attitude.
“I just took them (shots) as they came. I’m not just going to come in and start launching them (shots),” said Moody. “You got to be comfortable taking the shots you’re suppose to take or it is just going to be a big mess out there and everybody will just be taking awkward shots and no one will know what is going on.”
Henderson was more so known as a volume shooter, someone who took a lot of shots even if heavily contested, while Moody takes shots as they come and one can see the difference in their field goal percentage. In the 2013-14 season, Marshall Henderson shot 35% from the field, where as Moody is shooting 40% from field this season. Maybe part of that has to do with Moody’s ability to create space.
“Moody has the gear to separate, so were just trying to put him in actions where he can get separation,” said Coach Andy Kennedy.
“Similar, but we have put a few wrinkles in because he has an ability to separate,” said Kennedy on how the plays he ran for Henderson compared to the plays he ran for Moody.
“Moody is giving them an unbelievable presence to go along with those other guys,” said South Carolina Coach Frank Martin. “I thought about going into the Ole Miss locker room at half and kissing Andy because Moody did not play in the first half.”
Moody played very little in the first half after getting into foul trouble early. However, he came out and put on a show in the second scoring the entirety of his 16 points in the second half.
Ole Miss will be back in action Wednesday, January 14th with against LSU. Tip off is at 6 pm at the Tad Pad and maybe this time the lights will stay on for the entirety of the game. 
