Crimson Tide rolls out Rebs
By Staff
DUDLEY DO RIGHT Alabama center Erwin Dudley powers in a basket over Ole Miss center John Gunn in the first half. AP photo.
By Carver Rayburn / staff writer
March 3, 2003
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. The Ole Miss Rebels did not have to deal with the pain of losing a close game on Sunday. Four Alabama Crimson Tide players scored in double digits in front of an announced crowd of 11,968 in an 86-63 rout of the visiting Rebels.
Ole Miss (12-13, 3-11) dropped their ninth straight game and are on the brink of posting their first losing season since 1995 when they produced a record of 12-15 under then head coach Rob Evans.
The Rebels may also find themselves missing post-season play for the first time in six years.
Alabama (16-9, 6-8) made its case stronger for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament by shooting 70 percent in the second half to pull away from Ole Miss for the victory.
Ole Miss head coach said that the current losing streak has been an emotional roller coaster for his players and staff.
The first half of action proved to be one of perimeter shooting for Ole Miss and inside pounding by Alabama. Ole Miss forward Justin Reed scored all nine of the Rebels first points with shots from around the perimeter.
The Crimson Tide continued to pound the ball inside to Erwin Dudley and outscored the Rebels 18-8 in points in the paint.
Rebel center John Gunn hit a baseline jumper with 7:14 left to play in the first half to cut the lead to 27-25. The basket would be the last for Ole Miss for the next 5:32.
In that time span, Alabama went on a 13-0 run to pull away 40-25 with 2:15 remaining in the half.
Ole Miss responded with a 6-0 run of their own to end the first half and go into the locker room trailing 40-31.
The Crimson Tide wasted no time at all with two quick three-pointers by Antoine Pettway to open the second half of play. Pettway finished with 19 points and was 4-of-6 from behind the arc.
Alabama threatened to pull away several times in the second half, but Ole Miss responded on the offensive end of the court to keep deficit around nine points for the majority of the game.
After a media timeout at the 7:04 mark, Pettway hit his third, three-pointer of the second half to give the Tide a 67-49 lead. Ole Miss responded with a 9-0 run complimented by consecutive three-pointers from Aaron Harper, David Sanders and Trey Pearson to cut the lead to 67-58.
That was as close as the Rebels would get. Alabama outscored Ole Miss 19-5 in the final five minutes of the game, thanks to the inside play of Kennedy Winston. Winston scored nine of his 20 points during that span.
Ole Miss will head back to Oxford for senior night in a contest with LSU on Wednesday.
