Nov. 13, 2011

Ole Miss Game Notes

GAME 2: Ole Miss (1-0) vs. Grambling State (0-1)
Monday, Nov. 14, 2011 | 7 p.m. CT
Oxford, Miss. | C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum (9,061)

MEDIA
Television: None
Live Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network (David Kellum, play-by-play; Keith Carter, analyst).
Satellite Radio: SIRIUS 219, XM 200
Live Video: RebelVision

QUICK HITS

• The Rebels defeated Louisiana-Monroe 60-38 in Friday’s season opener. It was the lowest point total for an Ole Miss opponent since holding Arkansas-Pine Bluff to 38 on Dec. 28, 2002.
• Ole Miss returns six lettermen and three starters from last year’s team that went 20-14 and played in the NIT.
• Head coach Andy Kennedy boasts a 106-64 record in his sixth year at Ole Miss.
• Kennedy is the first Rebel coach to lead the program to four 20-win seasons and the second to guide Ole Miss to four postseason appearances.
• The Rebels are 73-15 in home games under Kennedy, including a 46-2 record against non-league foes.
• Ole Miss is a perfect 32-0 all-time against SWAC teams.
• Junior forward Reginald Buckner was named to the preseason All-SEC 2nd team by the league coaches.
• Ole Miss welcomes back junior forward Murphy Holloway, who has transferred back to his original school from South Carolina, where he sat out last season. He grabbed 17 rebounds in the season opener.
• Ole Miss enters its first season in four years without the services of departed guards Chris Warren and Zach Graham, who finished as the third- and 18th-leading scorers in school history, respectively.

DEFENSE DOMINATES SEASON OPENER
Ole Miss won its season opener 60-38 over Louisiana-Monroe on Friday night. The Warhawks’ 38 points are the fewest by a Rebel opponent since Ole Miss surrendered 38 to Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 28, 2002. Ole Miss led 33-11 at the half. Terrance Henry led three Rebels in double figures with 15 points, while Murphy Holloway snagged 17 rebounds in his first game back in a Rebel uniform after a one-year stint at South Carolina.

KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION BEGINS SIXTH YEAR
In five seasons under Mississippi native Andy Kennedy, Ole Miss won 105 games (most by an Ole Miss coach in a five-year period), two SEC West championships, four 20-win campaigns and four postseason berths, which includes a pair of trips to the NIT Final Four. The Rebels have their sights set on challenging for the program’s first SEC regular-season championship and their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2002, as Kennedy enters his sixth year at the helm.

NEW LOOK IN 2011-12
The Rebel bench has several new faces in 2011-12, including three new assistant coaches. Former FIU head coach Sergio Rouco, former Middle Tennessee assistant Al Pinkins and former Ole Miss Coordinator of Basketball Operations Bill Armstrong were hired in the offseason to replace departed Michael White, Owen Miller and Torrey Ward. Among the team’s nine freshmen and transfers is Memphis transfer Jelan Kendrick, a 6-foot-7 redshirt-freshman guard who is the first McDonald’s All-American in Ole Miss hoops history. Also back to Ole Miss is junior forward Murphy Holloway, who was a two-year starter for the Rebels before sitting out last year at South Carolina and then returning to Oxford. Other scholarship players joining the program are freshmen Maurice Aniefiok, Aaron Jones, Jamal Jones, Jarvis Summers and Ladarius White.

RETURNING PLAYERS
Ole Miss returns six lettermen and three starters from last year’s team that went 20-14 and played in the NIT. Returning starters are junior forward Reginald Buckner, senior forward Terrance Henry and junior guard Nick Williams. Henry is top returning scorer (9.7 ppg), Buckner the top returning rebounder (6.4 rpg) and Williams the top returning assists man (1.5 apg). The other returning lettermen are sophomore center Demarco Cox, sophomore guard Dundrecous Nelson and senior forward Steadman Short.