OXFORD — Ole Miss men’s basketball coach Andy Kennedy knew he would have to rely on guard Stefan Moody to carry the Rebels during the early section of the season. Moody did not let him down Friday night.
Moody scored a career-high 29 points, added five rebounds and five assists as the Rebels defeated Northwestern State 90-76 in the season opener for both clubs. The Rebels placed four players in double figures and never trailed.
“He did exactly what we ask of him,” Kennedy said. “It’s a weight he has to carry right now, but we expect that to change as the season goes on.
“We got him some help as we got deeper in the game.”
Sebastian Saiz scored 16 points and added a career-high 14 rebounds, while Sam Finley and Rasheed Brooks added 16 and 11 points, respectively.
The Rebels led 38-32 at halftime and preserved the lead in the second half on the strength of a 24 of 28 (85.7 percent) performance from the free-throw line.
Northwestern State countered with the guard combination of Jalen West, who scored 24 of his 25 points in the second half, and Zeek Woodley with 22 points. West limped to the bench in the final minute.
“We battled and put ourselves in position, but we weren’t able to make the plays we had to make to give ourselves an opportunity at the end,” Northwestern State coach Mike McConathy said. “As far as Jalen’s status, he is still being evaluated. That’s all I know.”
The Rebels built a 13-2 lead in the opening six minutes as Northwestern State missed 13 consecutive shots from the field. The Demons were 25 of 70 (35.7 percent) from the field, but managed to pull within 58-55 with 10:31 left on a pair of free throws by West.
The strong free-throw shooting by the Rebels complemented a 29-of-61 (47.5 percent) night from the field. The Rebels outrebounded the Demons 44-36 and had only four turnovers in the second half.
Ole Miss went on a 12-4 run that rebuilt the lead to 70-59 with 7:52 remaining. Moody had four baskets and the Rebels closed with nine consecutive free throws in the final eight minutes to keep Northwestern State at a safe distance.
“There were a lot of positive things tonight,” Kennedy said. “The most positive thing is this is a quality win.”
n Alabama 77, Kennesaw State 64: At Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Retin Obasohan scored 18 points and coach Avery Johnson made his collegiate head coaching debut as Alabama beat Kennesaw State in the season opener for both teams on Friday night.
Obasohan was 6 of 10 from the field. Dazon Ingram had 16 points, six rebounds and four assists. Shannon Hale added 13 points.
“Dazon’s a gamer,” Obasohan said. “He’s one of those guys that’s really, really talented and has tremendous potential and what you guys saw tonight was just a glimpse of it.”
Johnson made his collegiate head coaching debut in front of a crowd of 14,970.
“If we can continue to build on that crowd tonight, then we start to have an incredible home court advantage here in Coleman Coliseum like a lot of other top programs around the country,” Johnson said.
Alabama will play at noon Tuesday at Dayton. ESPN will broadcast the game live.
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