The No. 19 Ole Miss men's basketball team enters the back third of their SEC schedule next, as they travel to take on South Carolina on Wednesday, February 12 at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network.
TEAM FACTS
No. 19/23 Ole Miss Rebels (Record: 18-6, 7-4 SEC)
Head Coach: Chris Beard • 2nd Season at Ole Miss (38-18) • 275-116 career record (13th Season)
South Carolina Gamecocks (Record: 10-13, 0-10 SEC)
Head Coach: Lamont Paris • 3rd Season at South Carolina (47-42) • 134-114 career record (8th Season)
ON THE AIR
Television/Online: SEC Network
Play-by-Play: Kevin Fitzgerald
Analyst: Perry Clark
OLE MISS RADIO
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: David Kellum
Analyst: Marc Dukes
SERIES HISTORY VS. SOUTH CAROLINA
This will be the 50th meeting between the Rebels and Gamecocks, with Ole Miss leading the all-time series by one, 25-24. The two first played back in 1960, and didn't take each other on again until South Carolina joined the SEC in 1991. Each team holds an advantage when playing at home, with the Gamecocks leading the series in Columbia 13-4.
LAST MEETING: February 25, 2025 (L, 59-72, Oxford, Miss.)
• The 20th-ranked Gamecocks took an early advantage, leading by 14 at the half before holding on for the 13-point win.
• Jaemyn Brakefield (Ole Miss): 12 points, seven rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block.
• B.J. Mack (South Carolina): 17 points, two rebounds, two assists.
SCOUTING THE GAMECOCKS
South Carolina holds a record of 10-13 on the year, having gone 0-10 in SEC play. They began the year with victories over Virginia Tech, Boston College, and No. 25 Clemson during non-con action. While they haven't been able to secure a win during the conference slate, five of their losses have been by five or less points, four of which came against ranked opponents. They currently own a NET Ranking of 90 and sit in last place in the SEC Standings.
The Gamecocks are paced offensively by sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles, who averages 15.4 points per game while shooting an SEC-best 58.5 percent from the floor. He also leads the team in rebounding, ranking third in the conference with a clip of 8.8 per outing and has posted six double-doubles on the season.
A strength for South Carolina this season has been their ability to get to the free throw line, averaging 23.0 attempts and 16.0 makes per game, which ranks 29th and 54th in the nation, respectively.
In his third year with the Gamecocks, head coach Lamont Paris is fresh off an SEC Coach of the Year honor in 2024, after guiding South Carolina to a 26-win season. He's in his eighth season as a Division-I head coach, after spending five years at Chattanooga from 2017 to 2022, where he was named the 2022 SoCon Coach of the Year after leading the Mocs to 27 wins and an NCAA Tournament berth.
I'LL TAKE THAT, PLEASE
Sean Pedulla has had a big impact for the Rebels on defense, forcing 50 steals for an average of 2.08 per game. The senior guard has collected a steal in 21 of 24 games during the 2024-25 season, grabbing multiple swipes in 15 games this year with a season-best of five against Oral Roberts. He currently ranks 33rd in the NCAA in steals per game and 26th in total steals. The senior guard is nearing the top-10 for most steals in a single season in Ole Miss history, needing 55 to enter the list.
Paired with Matthew Murrell's 2.00 steals per game, Ole Miss is the only team in the SEC with two players averaging two or more swipes per contest, and is one of three programs in the country (also UC San Diego and UTEP).
"POLL" POSITION
In the latest top-25 polls released this past Monday, Ole Miss ranks No. 19 in the AP Poll and No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Their current run of 12 straight weeks in the AP Top 25 is the longest streak since the 1997-98 season, when the Rebels held a ranking the entire season. Ranked No. 15 in the Coaches Poll on December 9, it was the highest ranking in a national poll since the Rebels were No. 14 in the AP Poll on January 4, 2010, and the highest position in the Coaches Poll since they sat in 15th on January 21 in 2008.
SPECIAL WEAPON OFF THE BENCH
A consistent starter over the past three seasons at Ole Miss, Jaemyn Brakefield has embraced a role off the bench this season and still been one of the best players on the court. With a season average of 10.8 points per game, Brakefield leads the conference with 16 double-digit point games when coming off the bench.
Double-Digit Scoring Off The Bench - SEC
1. 16 - Jaemyn Brakefield, Ole Miss
2. 15 - Aden Holloway, Alabama
3. 14 - Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn
LUNARDI SAYS "DANCE"
Updated each Tuesday and Friday, the latest bracketology from ESPN's Joe Lunardi has Ole Miss as a five seed in the Midwest Region. They are projected to face 12-seed UC Irvine in Seattle, paired with four-seeded Arizona vs. 13th-seeded Akron. The highest seed for the Ole Miss program came in the 2001 tournament, when they were set as a three seed and reached the Sweet 16. Lunardi's latest projections has 13 teams from the SEC earning a ticket to the 2025 NCAA Tournament, a number that would be the most for a single conference all time.
PROGRAM POINT PRESIDENTS
Seniors Matthew Murrell and Jaemyn Brakefield have each surpassed the 1,000-point mark during their careers here in Oxford, and continue to climb the program leaderboard. Here's a snapshot of where they lie among the career points list at Ole Miss:
...
7. Justin Reed - 1,785
8. Keith Carter - 1,682
9. Matthew Murrell - 1,679
10. Jarvis Summers - 1,629
...
24. Marshall Henderson - 1,293
25. Jason Smith - 1,286
26. Jaemyn Brakefield - 1,284
27. Zach Graham - 1,274
NETWORKING
The 2024-25 NET Rankings made their debut on Monday, December 2 and Ole Miss has since climbed their way to No. 22 in the nation. Since the ranking's first iteration at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season, their ranking of 13th on January 20 is the highest-ever NET Ranking for the Ole Miss program.
As of February 10, the entire SEC is ranked among the top 100, with 14 of the 16 programs sitting inside the top 50, eight in the top 25, and four in the top 10.
WILDCAT-NIPPED
On Tuesday, February 4, the Rebels hosted No. 14 Kentucky on ESPN and showed out in primetime in front of the nation, picking up a program-building win over the Wildcats 98-84. The Rebels jumped out to a hot start, scoring 54 points in the first half, the most in the first 20 minutes of action since November of 2013. The team finished with 98 points, the most Ole Miss has ever scored against Kentucky since first playing them in 1925, led by a season-best 24 points from Matthew Murrell who made six shots makes from three.
The facilitators for the Rebels offense, points guards Jaylen Murray and Sean Pedulla combined for 18 assists, with Murray posting a double-double on 15 points and 10 dimes, while Pedulla's 8 helpers were a season-high. As a team, Ole Miss posted 24 assists and just one turnover, the highest assist-to-turnover ration in a single game by any team all year, and the highest in the NCAA since 2019. It was the fewest turnovers in an SEC game in the past 25 seasons, and was the first team over those 25 seasons to dish out more than 20 assists and turn the ball over fewer than two times against a ranked opponent. It was the second game head coach Chris Beard has coached where his team had just one turnover, after a game at Little Rock on March 1, 2016 where the Trojans had 20 assists and one turnover in an 89-80 win over Arkansas State.
RECORD BOOK WRECKER
Senior guard Matthew Murrell enters his fifth season with Ole Miss and continues to put his name up and down the program record book. The Memphis native currently ranks ninth in school history in career points with 1,679, tied for fourth in three-point shots made (249), and fourth in three-point attempts (707). He also ranks ninth in most field goal attempts at 1,372, and is sixth in career steals with 161.
I AM IRON MAN
A consistent member of the lineup for each of the past five seasons, Matthew Murrell ranks near the top in both career minutes and games played at Ole Miss. The guard recently broke the program record for total games played in an Ole Miss uniform, surpassing Zach Graham with 135, now at 141. Murrell has played in the second-most minutes for the program at 4,095, and is poised to surpass the all-time leader, Elston Turner with 4,109, in the next game.
TEAM FACTS
No. 19/23 Ole Miss Rebels (Record: 18-6, 7-4 SEC)
Head Coach: Chris Beard • 2nd Season at Ole Miss (38-18) • 275-116 career record (13th Season)
South Carolina Gamecocks (Record: 10-13, 0-10 SEC)
Head Coach: Lamont Paris • 3rd Season at South Carolina (47-42) • 134-114 career record (8th Season)
ON THE AIR
Television/Online: SEC Network
Play-by-Play: Kevin Fitzgerald
Analyst: Perry Clark
OLE MISS RADIO
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: David Kellum
Analyst: Marc Dukes
SERIES HISTORY VS. SOUTH CAROLINA
This will be the 50th meeting between the Rebels and Gamecocks, with Ole Miss leading the all-time series by one, 25-24. The two first played back in 1960, and didn't take each other on again until South Carolina joined the SEC in 1991. Each team holds an advantage when playing at home, with the Gamecocks leading the series in Columbia 13-4.
LAST MEETING: February 25, 2025 (L, 59-72, Oxford, Miss.)
• The 20th-ranked Gamecocks took an early advantage, leading by 14 at the half before holding on for the 13-point win.
• Jaemyn Brakefield (Ole Miss): 12 points, seven rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block.
• B.J. Mack (South Carolina): 17 points, two rebounds, two assists.
SCOUTING THE GAMECOCKS
South Carolina holds a record of 10-13 on the year, having gone 0-10 in SEC play. They began the year with victories over Virginia Tech, Boston College, and No. 25 Clemson during non-con action. While they haven't been able to secure a win during the conference slate, five of their losses have been by five or less points, four of which came against ranked opponents. They currently own a NET Ranking of 90 and sit in last place in the SEC Standings.
The Gamecocks are paced offensively by sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles, who averages 15.4 points per game while shooting an SEC-best 58.5 percent from the floor. He also leads the team in rebounding, ranking third in the conference with a clip of 8.8 per outing and has posted six double-doubles on the season.
A strength for South Carolina this season has been their ability to get to the free throw line, averaging 23.0 attempts and 16.0 makes per game, which ranks 29th and 54th in the nation, respectively.
In his third year with the Gamecocks, head coach Lamont Paris is fresh off an SEC Coach of the Year honor in 2024, after guiding South Carolina to a 26-win season. He's in his eighth season as a Division-I head coach, after spending five years at Chattanooga from 2017 to 2022, where he was named the 2022 SoCon Coach of the Year after leading the Mocs to 27 wins and an NCAA Tournament berth.
I'LL TAKE THAT, PLEASE
Sean Pedulla has had a big impact for the Rebels on defense, forcing 50 steals for an average of 2.08 per game. The senior guard has collected a steal in 21 of 24 games during the 2024-25 season, grabbing multiple swipes in 15 games this year with a season-best of five against Oral Roberts. He currently ranks 33rd in the NCAA in steals per game and 26th in total steals. The senior guard is nearing the top-10 for most steals in a single season in Ole Miss history, needing 55 to enter the list.
Paired with Matthew Murrell's 2.00 steals per game, Ole Miss is the only team in the SEC with two players averaging two or more swipes per contest, and is one of three programs in the country (also UC San Diego and UTEP).
"POLL" POSITION
In the latest top-25 polls released this past Monday, Ole Miss ranks No. 19 in the AP Poll and No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Their current run of 12 straight weeks in the AP Top 25 is the longest streak since the 1997-98 season, when the Rebels held a ranking the entire season. Ranked No. 15 in the Coaches Poll on December 9, it was the highest ranking in a national poll since the Rebels were No. 14 in the AP Poll on January 4, 2010, and the highest position in the Coaches Poll since they sat in 15th on January 21 in 2008.
SPECIAL WEAPON OFF THE BENCH
A consistent starter over the past three seasons at Ole Miss, Jaemyn Brakefield has embraced a role off the bench this season and still been one of the best players on the court. With a season average of 10.8 points per game, Brakefield leads the conference with 16 double-digit point games when coming off the bench.
Double-Digit Scoring Off The Bench - SEC
1. 16 - Jaemyn Brakefield, Ole Miss
2. 15 - Aden Holloway, Alabama
3. 14 - Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn
LUNARDI SAYS "DANCE"
Updated each Tuesday and Friday, the latest bracketology from ESPN's Joe Lunardi has Ole Miss as a five seed in the Midwest Region. They are projected to face 12-seed UC Irvine in Seattle, paired with four-seeded Arizona vs. 13th-seeded Akron. The highest seed for the Ole Miss program came in the 2001 tournament, when they were set as a three seed and reached the Sweet 16. Lunardi's latest projections has 13 teams from the SEC earning a ticket to the 2025 NCAA Tournament, a number that would be the most for a single conference all time.
PROGRAM POINT PRESIDENTS
Seniors Matthew Murrell and Jaemyn Brakefield have each surpassed the 1,000-point mark during their careers here in Oxford, and continue to climb the program leaderboard. Here's a snapshot of where they lie among the career points list at Ole Miss:
...
7. Justin Reed - 1,785
8. Keith Carter - 1,682
9. Matthew Murrell - 1,679
10. Jarvis Summers - 1,629
...
24. Marshall Henderson - 1,293
25. Jason Smith - 1,286
26. Jaemyn Brakefield - 1,284
27. Zach Graham - 1,274
NETWORKING
The 2024-25 NET Rankings made their debut on Monday, December 2 and Ole Miss has since climbed their way to No. 22 in the nation. Since the ranking's first iteration at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season, their ranking of 13th on January 20 is the highest-ever NET Ranking for the Ole Miss program.
As of February 10, the entire SEC is ranked among the top 100, with 14 of the 16 programs sitting inside the top 50, eight in the top 25, and four in the top 10.
WILDCAT-NIPPED
On Tuesday, February 4, the Rebels hosted No. 14 Kentucky on ESPN and showed out in primetime in front of the nation, picking up a program-building win over the Wildcats 98-84. The Rebels jumped out to a hot start, scoring 54 points in the first half, the most in the first 20 minutes of action since November of 2013. The team finished with 98 points, the most Ole Miss has ever scored against Kentucky since first playing them in 1925, led by a season-best 24 points from Matthew Murrell who made six shots makes from three.
The facilitators for the Rebels offense, points guards Jaylen Murray and Sean Pedulla combined for 18 assists, with Murray posting a double-double on 15 points and 10 dimes, while Pedulla's 8 helpers were a season-high. As a team, Ole Miss posted 24 assists and just one turnover, the highest assist-to-turnover ration in a single game by any team all year, and the highest in the NCAA since 2019. It was the fewest turnovers in an SEC game in the past 25 seasons, and was the first team over those 25 seasons to dish out more than 20 assists and turn the ball over fewer than two times against a ranked opponent. It was the second game head coach Chris Beard has coached where his team had just one turnover, after a game at Little Rock on March 1, 2016 where the Trojans had 20 assists and one turnover in an 89-80 win over Arkansas State.
RECORD BOOK WRECKER
Senior guard Matthew Murrell enters his fifth season with Ole Miss and continues to put his name up and down the program record book. The Memphis native currently ranks ninth in school history in career points with 1,679, tied for fourth in three-point shots made (249), and fourth in three-point attempts (707). He also ranks ninth in most field goal attempts at 1,372, and is sixth in career steals with 161.
I AM IRON MAN
A consistent member of the lineup for each of the past five seasons, Matthew Murrell ranks near the top in both career minutes and games played at Ole Miss. The guard recently broke the program record for total games played in an Ole Miss uniform, surpassing Zach Graham with 135, now at 141. Murrell has played in the second-most minutes for the program at 4,095, and is poised to surpass the all-time leader, Elston Turner with 4,109, in the next game.
