Ole Miss hopes to cure its road woes when it travels to Texas on Saturday for a 1 p.m. CST tip as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
The Rebels have yet to record a win in a true road game this season and things won’t get any easier when they go up against one of the best defenses in the country.
Texas, anchored by likely lottery pick, Mo Bamba, has bought into the defensive-minded identity of Shaka Smart. Ole Miss will try to counter Texas’s defense with an offense that is guard-heavy and built to score in bunches.
Let’s take a look at what the Rebels have to do to earn their first road victory of the season.
Keep Texas away from the basket
More than 53 percent of Texas’s point production comes from the paint, which is more than most of the country.
However, the Longhorns shoot just 30 percent from 3-point range as a team and no individual shoots better than 34 percent.
Andy Kennedy’s team usually will play some zone, but it will be especially important to do so against Texas from time to time. The Rebels are not especially good at creating turnovers anyway, so there is even less of a reason to be aggressive against Texas’s guards out front.
When Texas does inevitably get the ball into the low post, Ole Miss needs to employ the hack-a-Shaq defense.
The Longhorns are one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the country overall, and their bigs, Mo Bamba and Jericho Sims, average about 50 percent from the line.
Push the pace
Texas is a team that often dictates the pace of the game because of the way Bamba can protect the rim, and there aren’t many easy buckets to be had against the Longhorns.
However, Ole Miss needs to play fast. The Rebels’ advantage will be in their backcourt depth and pushing the ball up the floor will help them exploit this advantage fully by tiring out the defense.
The Rebels are second in tempo in the SEC, so they need to stay true to their identity and play fast.
And even though the Rebels do play fast, they still manage to avoid turnovers for the most part so there’s no reason to slow against any defense, even a talented one like Texas.
Own the boards
For all of Texas’s length, they are just an average rebounding team outside of Bamba.
Meanwhile, Ole Miss has been a solid offensive rebounding team all year.
The Rebels need to attack the glass on offense, looking for extra opportunities to get shot attempts.
Because Ole Miss doesn’t create turnovers at a high rate defensively, they have to find a way to create extra possessions for their offense, and offensive rebounds may be their only hope.