After reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1992, La Salle has gone on to win two tournament games for the first time since 1955. The entire alumni base is on cloud nine about the team’s success this week and with good reason. One more win will earn the Explorers a bid to the Sweet 16; standing in their win is the Old Miss Rebels.
Junior Marshall Henderson is the man to stop for the Rebels. Henderson is the 17th-leading scorer in the country at 20.0 points per game, accounting for 25.8% of the team’s points on the season. He is basically the sole threat from behind the arc for Ole Miss, attempting over half of the team’s three-point attempts. The gunner has the green light to shoot from anywhere on the court at any time, as LeBron James mentioned in a tweet that garnered some media attention. Aside from his statistics, Henderson is the madman known as much for his clutch shots as his outrageous behavior on the court, such as doing the Gator Chomp to mock the Florida crowd during the SEC Championship game. Henderson polarizes the general public, with people either finding his antics funny or feeling like they want to punch him in the face.
Besides Henderson, 6’7″ senior Murphy Holloway is the main interior force for Ole Miss, averaging 14.5 ppg on 55.7% shooting and 9.6 rebounds. As a team, Mississippi speeds up the game, leading to some high-scoring totals. However, they are not an especially efficient shooting squad, shooting only 43.6% from the field and 32.9% from three. The Rebels maintain a good offensive rating thanks to their 11.1 offensive rebounds per game, which ranks 24th in the country. Fortunately for La Salle fans, this is an area where the Explorers have done a decent job this season. Defensively for the Rebels, their strategy appears to center around protecting the paint and making opponents beat them from the outside. Opposition’s 6.6 made threes and 21.4 attempted threes per game are among the highest totals allowed of any team in the country. This defensive philosophy plays right into La Salle’s hands as they look to shoot from behind the arc at all times.
In their third tournament contest, La Salle looks to have drawn a favorable match-up in the Rebels. La Salle has a number of quick guards to throw at Henderson defensively. He’s going to take a large number of shots; the key will be to make sure they’re from bad spots on the court. Ole Miss is an inefficient offensive team that relies on earning extra opportunities on the offensive glass, while the Explorers have done well to limit teams to just one possession. Finally, La Salle has relied on beating teams from behind the arc, which is an area Ole Miss concedes on the defensive end. I would look for the dream to stay alive and La Salle to reach the Sweet 16.
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