The winningest coach in Ole Miss basketball history came back to visit the Pavilion his program helped build and brought a spirited UAB team for an exhibition on Tuesday night.
The Rebels won 92-78, which is part of the story, but the bigger part is the honoring of former head coach Andy Kennedy. AK's nine 20-win seasons came at a time when Ole Miss men's basketball was at a stale and stagnant place with losing seasons beginning to pile up.
It is easier now to look back on his tenure with a lot of nostalgia, because its been several years now. There were plenty of times fans wanted him gone, but he did one thing better than any men's basketball head coach in Oxford and that was win games. He went on to guide Ole Miss to 245 wins over 12 seasons including two trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Kennedy now coaches at UAB where guess what all he has done is post 20-win seasons every year since he arrived with a 70 percent overall winning percentage the last six seasons.
Tuesday night however was a bit of a wake up call for the old coach. Ole Miss and UAB battled back and forth in the first half trading the lead nine times and the Blazers leading by one point at the half. From there, the Rebels eventually gained control of the game and overwhelmed UAB in the second half.
Budd Clark led the Rebels in scoring with eighteen points and seven assists. Clark is a transfer from Seton Hall who joined the roster for his senior season. Another new face, Santiago Trouet, added a double double to the box score for Ole Miss as well.
Ole Miss had six players score double digit points including returning player Patton Pinkins who notched 15 and was perfect from the charity stripe.
This is the second exhibition game for the Rebels this preseason with a loss to Alabama coming earlier this month. The regular season kicks off Monday, Nov. 2 when Alcorn State comes to the SJB Pavilion for a 7:30 p.m. CT tip off that can be streamed live on SEC Network+.
