Welcome to TBO.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Sports

TBO > Sports

Kentucky vs. Ole Miss, 1 p.m.

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 12, 2009

Kentucky Wildcats

Probable Starters

No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
5	Ramon Harris	F	6-7	218	Jr.	5.3	3.5	1.3
54	Patrick Patterson	F	6-9	235	So.	18.4	9.2	1.9
21	Perry Stevenson	F	6-9	207	Jr.	7.4	5.9	2.7
13	Michael Porter	G	6-3	198	Jr.	4.3	1.8	2.7
23	Jodie Meeks	G	6-4	208	Jr.	24.7	3.5	1.6

Ole Miss Rebels

Probable Starters

No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
21	Malcolm White	F	6-9	217	So.	7.2	5.7	0.1
31	Murphy Holloway	F	6-7	225	Fr.	8.5	6.7	0.7
33	David Huertas	G	6-5	200	Jr.	18.2	4.4	2.3
24	Terrico White	G	6-5	211	Fr.	13.5	3.4	2.3
32	Zach Graham	G	6-6	225	So.	8.6	3.1	1.4

Player To Watch

Jodie Meeks, Kentucky: He wears No. 23 and, not coincidentally, he's sometimes Jordan-esque. He is the nation's fifth-leading scorer (24.7 ppg). On Jan. 13, he had 54 points against Tennessee, breaking Dan Issel's 38-year-old single-game Wildcats scoring record. He ranks sixth nationally in free-throw shooting (89.4 percent).

Regular-Season Meeting

Ole Miss beat Kentucky, 85-80, on Jan. 27 in Oxford, Miss., breaking a nine-game losing streak against the Wildcats. Terrico White and David Huertas each had 21 points. Jodie Meeks was limited to 21 points on 4-for-15 shooting from the field.

What To Expect

Absolute desperation from Kentucky, which hasn't missed the NCAA Tournament since 1991 (Rick Pitino's second season). The Wildcats enter with a four-game losing streak, and a defeat here would be disastrous in Big Blue Country. Ole Miss, meanwhile, has nothing to lose and its youthful lineup should be playing pressure-free. The Rebels lost star point guard Chris Warren to a season-ending injury at midseason.

Fun Fact

Ole Miss is 0-13 against Kentucky in SEC Tournament games. That is the only winless mark among the current league members. It began poorly - Kentucky 49, Ole Miss 31 in the inaugural 1933 SEC Tournament - and it has gotten worse.

FRIDAY'S OPPONENT: LSU Tigers (25-6, 13-3)

The Kentucky-Ole Miss winner meets LSU, the West No. 1 seed, in Friday's quarterfinals at 1 p.m.

Probable Starters

No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
1	Tasmin Mitchell	F	6-7	235	Jr.	16.4	7.3	1.9
21	Chris Johnson	C	6-11	210	Sr.	7.9	7.4	1.3
5	Marcus Thornton	G	6-4	205	Sr.	20.9	5.5	2.1
14	Garrett Temple	G	6-6	190	Sr.	7.1	4.5	3.9
11	Bo Spencer	G	6-1	185	So.	11.7	2.8	2.6

Player To Watch

Marcus Thornton is LSU's third SEC Player of the Year in the past five seasons (along with Brandon Bass in 2005 and Glen Davis in 2006). He has thrived under Coach Trent Johnson, in his first season after arriving from Stanford, and has nine games of 30 or more points.

What To Expect

The Tigers are the SEC's only ranked team, but they still have something to prove. LSU hasn't made the SEC Tournament championship game since 1993, and it has only one tournament title (1980) in program history. The Tigers swept Ole Miss (83-51 and 73-66 this season), and in their lone meeting with Kentucky, the Tigers rallied from a 10-point deficit and won 73-70 at Rupp Arena on Feb. 28.

Fun Fact

This is LSU's first game in Tampa since Dec. 3, 1966 - a 74-72 victory against the University of Tampa Spartans at the old Howell Gymnasium, one season before Pete Maravich made his varsity debut for the Tigers.

Share this:

* To:
Your Name:
Your Email Address:
Personal Message [optional]: