Kermit Davis, Ole Miss Prep for No. 4 Auburn on Saturday
OXFORD, Miss. -- Ole Miss is playing host to Auburn on Saturday night at the SJB Pavilion, and Rebel head coach Kermit Davis is relying on energy and physicality to give his team an edge against the top-five Tigers.
Auburn is led by head coach Bruce Pearl, a counterpart who Davis states that he has a lot of respect for, especially based on this year's Tiger team.
"It'll be a great environment playing an unbelievable team," Davis said. "I've played a lot of Bruce's teams, and he's done a great job with all of them. I think this may be his very best one."
With a limited number of tickets available, Davis is expecting a sellout on Saturday when his team hosts the No. 4 Tigers, and he stressed the importance of crowd involvement in his team's home success this season.
"It's always important," Davis said. "We've had some great crowds against Memphis and Mississippi State that helped us win both of those games. We've always had great crowds for Auburn. To be sold out and get students back on campus means all the world to our players."
Davis stated his distaste with his team's performance in its loss to Texas A&M earlier this week, and that has been an emphasis this week in practice, he said on Friday.
"Our immaturity showed," Davis said. "I never really thought we competed at a high level. Our zone defenses weren't very active, but our team was right there, and it just caught up with us. Give A&M credit. They're a really good team.
"Our energy level was very low. We just couldn't get consistent play out of the gate. We got no rhythm offensively and weren't very tough defensively. That's one of the softest teams I've ever put on a floor since I've been at Ole Miss."
"We're very inept offensively. I think that's obvious to see.
-- Kermit Davis following a 67-51 loss to Texas A&M on Tuesday
"We've addressed it in practice and are trying to be a more physical team," Davis continued. "You better be against Auburn. They're one of the most physical teams in college basketball."
Davis is prepping his team for the potential first pick in the upcoming NBA Draft on Saturday in Jabari Smith who leads the Tigers in scoring with 16.1 PPG.
"He's got great maturity as a young guy," Davis said. "They begin by talking about his character. What he did against Alabama, it was unbelievable. He scored at all three levels. Right now, there's no question that he's a top two or three pick in the draft and will play in the NBA for a long time."
Bruce Pearl and Jabari Smith have Auburn ranked fourth in the country with its only loss coming in double overtime to Connecticut on Nov. 24.
"Bruce is one of the best coaches in college basketball," Davis said. "We've had some really good games [against Auburn] and played really well. There have been some hard-fought matchups. You have to play well against Auburn, and I hope it's another terrific matchup tomorrow night."
Tip-off between Ole Miss and Auburn is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday night on SEC Network.
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