Ohio State vs. the University of Mississippi Preview
By John Porentas

Ohio State will meet Mississippi in the semifinals of the NIT tournament in New York's Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. The game is scheduled to tip off at 9:00 PM and will be televised on ESPN2. The winner of the game will meet the winner of the UMass vs. Florida game which will be played at 7:00 PM on Tuesday. The NIT title game is scheduled for 7:00 Thursday and will be televised by ESPN.

The Rebels

Mississippi comes into the game with an overall record of 24-10 and an SEC record of 7-9. Ole Miss ran off 13-consecutive wins to start the season but dropped an 85-83 decision at Tennessee for their first loss.

In SEC regular-season play Mississippi registered wins over LSU (74-71), Florida (89-87), Vanderbilt (74-58), Mississippi State (74-63), Alabama (91-88), Arkansas (81-72) and Georgia (76-62). They defeated UC Santa Barbara (83-68), Nebraska (85-75 OT) and Virginia Tech (81-72)in the NIT to reach the semifinals. Their NIT wins over UC Santa Barbara and Nebraska were at home, while the win over Virginia Tech came at Blacksburg. They are currently riding a seven-game winning streak dating back to their win over Alabama.

The Rebels were very successful at home this season but the road was not kind to them. They were just 1-7 on the road in conference play and 3-7 on the road overall during the regular season. Their lone win on the road in conference play came over Georgia on March 8. Their two non-conference road wins were over UCF and Winthrop.

The Rebels do not boast great size but are very athletic. The players who have logged the most minutes for them this season are of 5-11 freshman guard Chris Warren, 6-8 senior center Dwight Curtis, 6-5 guard Eniel Polynice, 6-5 sophomore guard David Huerta and 6-8 senior forward Kenny Williams. Freshman guards Trevor Garkins (6-2) and Zach Graham (6-5) as well as senior forward Jeremy Parnell (6-8) round out the players who are seeing significant playing time for the Rebels.

Warren is the leading scorer for Ole Miss at 15.7 points per game, but it Curtis that has been the guy who has done the dirty work and been efficient at the offensive end. At 15.0 points per game he is just behind Warren, but his shooting percentage of .643 speaks volumes as compared to Warren's overall shooting percentage of .396. Warren has launched 445 shots as compared to 322 for Curtis yet Curtis has scored just 14 points less that Warren. Warren has attempted 254 threes and has made 38 percent of them. Curtis on the other hand has snagged 174 offensive rebounds and a team-high 322 rebounds.

At 6-5, Polynice is Mississippi's leading assist man with 132. He scores at a 10.8 ppg game clip as well. Huerta is also a double-digit scorer at 10.9 ppg.

The Matchup

On the defensive end OSU's zone defense could cause problems for Ole Miss. The zone to some extent will take away the dribble drive of the athletic Rebels. Warren's three point shooting could cause a problem for the zone, but his shooting percentage from three says he is a competent threat from outside but not exactly the kind of player who will terrorize the opposition from long range like a Drew Neitzel.

On the flip side, the Buckeyes have had problems rebounding out of the zone all season and an effective rebounder like Curtis could spell real trouble for OSU. It will be up to Othello Hunter and Kosta Koufos to keep the Rebels, and especially Curtis, off the offensive glass. Hunter and Koufos will have a definite size advantage, and Hunter will most likely match up well athletically. He'll have to with an offensive rebounding terror like Curtis down on the block.

"They're active, they finish well. They use their size and athleticism down there on the block. We've got to do a great job of defending down there because they're a prolific rebounding team," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.

The Rebels will most likely use a three-guard lineup for much of the game. The Buckeyes will likely to counter with Jamar Butler, David Lighty and Evan Turner. With the success they had with a four-guard lineup against Cal, it's possible the Buckeyes could go that route again to try to force the Rebels to take at least one of their 6-8 players off the floor, something they would like to do to try to negate Mississippi's rebounding strength.

"Their style of play is sort of a rough, physical team, kind of like Cincinnati was when Coach Huggins was there," said Matta. "Rough, tough, physical, banging and pretty disciplined on offense."

The Strategy

The Rebels have tended to score a lot of points averaging 79.8 ppg for the season. They have averaged just over 84 points per game over their current seven-game winning streak, but have also allowed over 76 points per game over that same seven-game stretch.

That could be good news for the OSU offense which has struggled at times. If Butler can get going from outside against a defense that has been a little suspect at times things could be much easier for Koufos down low where he will have a considerable size advantage over whoever the Rebels have in the game. If Butler can hit some threes and both Lighty and Turner can be a threat to drive the basketball the Rebels will have a difficult time doubling Koufos and he should be able to have a big day. The key, however, will be OSU's zone and transition defenses. OSU will probably not outscore the Rebels, so will have to get stops and prevent fast break opportunities. OSU's zone must bother Warren on the perimeter and not allow too many points in the paint if the Buckeyes are going to have a chance to be successful, and that is something Matta would love if for no other than to extend the OSU season for one last game.

"I usually go into a depression mode for a stage when the season's over. I keep checking my watch. It's late-March and we're still hoopin'," said Matta.

"This is great. For us to be playing in April two years in a row is great."

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