Bobby's Post-Game Ole Miss Thoughts

I'll be brief because I've got to Stanimal proof the house and just did a live-blog. Tonight's win for Vanderbilt was a huge win. The Commodores now have 20 wins overall and sit at 9-2 in the conference with a showdown against #2 Kentucky Saturday at Memorial. Vanderbilt's 82-78 win is certainly the way Vanderbilt wanted to celebrate Seamus' birthday.

A.J. Ogilvy had the kind of game Commodore fans have been waiting for: 27 points on 8-11 shooting and 11-13 from the free throw line, and 8 rebounds including an offensive rebound that sealed deal. Jeffery Taylor and A.J. Ogilvy had monster first halves, scoring 23 of Vanderbilt's 30 half points. But A.J. wasn't done, he added 17 points in the second half, while Taylor added 6 points including an exclamation point dunk in the last minute. Jermaine Beal's sloppy play early, caused him to press. But then something clicked. Beal finished the game with 14 points on 2-8 shooting and 9-10 from the free throw line. It wasn't Jermaine's best game, but he hit came up big in the head, and helped Vanderbilt take a lead they never relinquished.

Quietly, Brad Tinsely also had a very good game. 8 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds is a great (Andre Walker-esque) line. A line that was that much more impressive given Walker's early exit due to foul trouble. He only played 7 minutes (at least he'll be rested for Kentucky). John Jenkins came back with 8 points and looked for his shots when the only Commodore offense was from JT and AJ.

Statistically, Ole Miss probably should have have won. They shot over 46%, a magic number of shorts for the Rebs, who hadn't lost a game when they'd shot over 44% all year. Vanderbilt did out-rebound the Rebs 36-35, a key stat when you consider entering the game Ole Miss was 4-6 when they got out-rebounded.

Ole Miss jumped out to a 16-5 lead, including 4-4 from 3 early. When they did miss, they were grabbing offensive rebounds. I'm not sure exactly, but I think Ole Miss scored on their first 6 possessions. Still, Vanderbilt showed yet again their ability to take a punch. It wasn't the prettiest game, but Vanderbilt certainly has put themselves in the best possible position headed into their showdown Saturday. This is the kind of game that makes me believe this could be the year the Commodores finally break through. But as Stanimal preached a few days ago: "one game at a time."