Heart. Passion. Relentless.
At the beginning of the 2014-15 Ole Miss Basketball season, the “experts” predicted this team to finish in the bottom of the SEC.
After an opening season loss to Charleston Southern, it looked like they may have been right. But they were not. This Band of Rebels, led by Head Coach Andy Kennedy put together one of the most memorable seasons in Ole Miss history.
Just 41 hours after scoring 62 points in 20 minutes of play to defeat BYU 94-90, Ole Miss took on Xavier in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. They fell to the Musketeers, 76-57.
“It was a tough afternoon for us, but I’m really proud of our group for getting to the NCAA Tournament and advancing in the NCAA Tournament,” Kennedy said. “We certainly did not play well, and all the credit goes to Xavier. They were in complete control of tempo from the start, and we were never able to wrestle it away from them.”
Ole Miss struggled to make baskets the entire game. Xavier center Matt Stainbrook scored 20 points and Ole Miss was unable to stop 6-10 senior.
The Xavier defense gave Ole Miss fits.
“We just really struggled shooting the ball all night,” Kennedy said. “They played that 1-3-1 zone about 10 percent of the time to this point of the season, and they stayed for the 1-3-1 for really the entire game, and it did its job. What’s ironic is our 1-3-1 is the reason we’re in the NCAA Tournament, and their 1-3-1 zone is the reason we’re going home.”
The Rebels finished the season 21-13. It was the seventh 20 win season for Kennedy during his nine years as head coach at Ole Miss.
For complete stats, click here: Ole Miss Basketball. 
