{"id":30430,"date":"2016-01-08T08:00:45","date_gmt":"2016-01-08T13:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=30430"},"modified":"2016-01-08T03:03:37","modified_gmt":"2016-01-08T08:03:37","slug":"kennedys-rebels-ring-in-pavilion-era-with-an-sec-win-and-plenty-of-celebrities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/kennedys-rebels-ring-in-pavilion-era-with-an-sec-win-and-plenty-of-celebrities\/","title":{"rendered":"Kennedy’s Rebels Ring In Pavilion Era with an SEC Win and a few Celebrities"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Fox
Fox News Anchor Shepard Smith at the grand opening of the Pavilion At Ole Miss. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Photograph
Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Story by Alex Thiel – Photographs by Newt Rayburn\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

University, Miss (TLV) – The Pavilion at Ole Miss<\/strong> looked like a million bucks on its opening night – $96.5 million, rather – as a sellout crowd of 9,500 witnessed the Rebels<\/strong> defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide<\/strong> by a score of 74-66 in the venue\u2019s debut.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ole Miss celebrities such as Marshall Henderson<\/strong> and Shepard Smith<\/strong> were on hand – along with a program-record crowd of 9,500 – to witness a second-half comeback by the Rebs, led by a monster game from junior big man Sebastian Saiz<\/strong> (21 points, 16 rebounds in 38 minutes).<\/span><\/p>\n

The Crimson Tide looked to play spoiler on the road in its SEC debut, but it was not to be.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photograph
Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Coached by ex-Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson<\/strong>, the Tide led for much of the first half. However, when their shooting went cold late, the home crowd took over and ensured that The Pavilion\u2019s first night would be a happy one.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ole Miss built a 25-15 lead early, but Johnson\u2019s club got it together late in the first half and went on a 25-7 run of their own. Stefan Moody<\/strong> was a paltry 25% from the floor in the first half, tallying 7 points. However, junior big man Sebastian Saiz contributed 9 points and 8 rebounds, while Tomasz Gielo<\/strong> paced all Rebels with 10 points in the first half.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

As has been the case with Ole Miss basketball for the past few years, however, the team finally put it all together in the second half.<\/span><\/p>\n

Head coach Andy Kennedy<\/strong> was highly complimentary of the energy from the fans in the new arena.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photograph
Andy Kennedy at the grand opening of the Pavilion At Ole Miss. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI honestly felt more pressure tonight than I did during the SEC championship,\u201d he noted. \u201cThis has never happened at Ole Miss\u2026 [I] actually saw students running to the game, instead of away from the game!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The player of the game was undoubtedly Sebastian Saiz, who took advantage of Alabama\u2019s commitment to guarding Moody down the stretch. Moody driving the lane, drawing the defense and dishing to Sebas was a familiar sight in the second half, and it worked far more effectively than it has at times in the past.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Former
Former Dallas Mavericks and current Alabama Crimson Tide Head Coach Avery Johnson at the grand opening of the Pavilion At Ole Miss. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI thought it was his best game as a Rebel,\u201d said Andy Kennedy. \u201cTonight, based on the circumstances\u2026 [h]e really stepped up and made hard plays.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of the night, before heading into the locker room, Andy Kennedy grabbed a microphone and addressed the fans from the floor, thanking them for their part in making it a \u201chistoric night\u201d for the program. He asked that fans continue to \u201cbring the energy,\u201d promising that his team would do the same.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSee you Saturday,\u201d he finished.\u00a0\"The<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Stefan
Stefan Moody at the grand opening of the Pavilion At Ole Miss. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Photograph
Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Photograph
Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Photograph
Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Photograph
Ron Shapiro and Judge Andrew Howorth at the grand opening of the Pavilion At Ole Miss. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"IMG_0047_1\"]\"IMG_0057_1\"<\/p>\n

\"Photograph
Oxford Attorney and former Ole Miss Basketballer Ken Coughlan at the grand opening of the Pavilion At Ole Miss. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"IMG_0073_1\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0105_1\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0113_1\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0120_1\"<\/p>\n

\"Fox
Fox News Anchor Shepard Smith at the grand opening of the Pavilion At Ole Miss. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Fox
Fox News Anchor Shepard Smith at the grand opening of the Pavilion At Ole Miss. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"IMG_0195_1\"<\/p>\n

\"Oxford
Oxford Attorney Dee Hobbs and former Ole Miss Tackle Todd Wade at the grand opening of the Pavilion At Ole Miss. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Oxford
Oxford Attorney Dee Hobbs and former Ole Miss Tackle Todd Wade at the grand opening of the Pavilion At Ole Miss. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"IMG_0138_1\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0239_1\"<\/p>\n

\"Ole
Ole Miss Basketball Head Coach Andy Kennedy at the grand opening of the Pavilion At Ole Miss. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Ole
Ole Miss Football Head Coach Hugh Freeze at the grand opening of the Pavilion At Ole Miss. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"IMG_0329_1\"<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Robert Cooper at the grand opening of the Pavilion At Ole Miss. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 January 7, 2016 – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"IMG_0353_1\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0384_1\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0390_1\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0394_1\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Story by Alex Thiel – Photographs by Newt Rayburn\u00a0 University, Miss (TLV) – The Pavilion at Ole Miss<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"featured_media":30433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,6],"tags":[283,1642,4614,7595,1118,7067,700,4618,7594,4620,7593,7596],"class_list":["post-30430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-athletics","category-ole-miss","tag-alabama","tag-alabama-crimson-tide","tag-andy-kennedy","tag-avery-johnson","tag-marshall-henderson","tag-ole-miss","tag-rebels","tag-sebastian-saiz","tag-shepard-smith","tag-stefan-moody","tag-the-pavilion-at-ole-miss","tag-tomasz-gielo"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/2016-01-07-PavilionOpening.jpg?fit=620%2C349&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}