I'll have coverage tomorrow postgame. I likely won't have much (if any) pregame coverage. For those upset about that, I apologize in advance. I've got a day today.
From UM Media Relations:
OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss men's basketball team is set to face off with the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, January 14 at noon in the SJB Pavilion and on the SEC Network.
TEAM FACTS
Ole Miss Rebels (8-8, 0-4 SEC)
Head Coach: Kermit Davis • 5th Season at Ole Miss (72-69) • 541-332 career record (28th Season)
Georgia Bulldogs (12-4, 2-1 SEC)
Head Coach: Mike White • 1st Season at Georgia (14-4) • 255-132 career record (12th Season)
ON THE AIR
Television/Online: SEC Network
Play-by-Play: Dave Neal
Color: Jon Sundvold
OLE MISS RADIO
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: David Kellum
Color: Marc Dukes
SERIES HISTORY VS. GEORGIA
Ole Miss and Georgia will face off on the court for the 123rd time on Saturday, with the Bulldogs owning a 76-46 all-time lead in the series. At home in Oxford, the Rebels lead 28-24 and are 6-4 over the last ten games played in Mississippi. While Georgia holds a 6-4 advantage over the previous 10 games, Ole Miss has won four of seven played under head coach Kermit Davis.
LAST MEETING: FEBRUARY 19, 2022 (W, 85-68, ATHENS, GA., STEGEMAN COLISEUM)
• While Ole Miss led a majority of the first half, it was a narrow game through the first 20 minutes, as 12 first-half points from Austin Crowley helped give the Rebels a 42-38 lead at the break.
• A huge second-half from Tye Fagan against his previous school helped fuel a 43-30 second half for Ole Miss, as they would go on to win by 17.
• Four Rebels scored in double figures: Fagan (20), Jaemyn Brakefield (19), Crowley (18), and Nysier Brooks (10).
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Georgia enters their game with the Rebels owning a 12-4 record, having gone 2-1 in conference thus far. After opening SEC play with a 76-64 win over Auburn at home, they fell to Florida on the road 82-75 before defeating Mississippi State 58-50 in Athens.
Georgia has kept their opponents scoring at bay during the 2022-23 season, owning a 64.2 points allowed per game average (No. 56 NCAA, No. 5 SEC), while holding their foes to a three-point field goal percentage of 28.4 (No. 15 NCAA, No. 5 SEC). The Bulldogs have been strong on the glass through their first 16 games, owning a +6.1 rebounding margin (No. 32 NCAA, No. 4 SEC) and an average of 39.1 boards per game (No. 39 NCAA, No. 3 SEC).
Terry Roberts leads Georgia in scoring at 15.7 points per game, the sixth-best clip in the SEC. The senior guard has been on fire during conference play, leading the SEC with an average of 22.3 points per contest after scoring 26 in their win over Auburn, 25 at Florida, and 16 in their matchup with MSU. Roberts also ranks third on the year in the SEC in assists per game at 4.1.
First-year head coach Mike White leads the Bulldogs after spending the previous seven seasons at Florida where he compiled a 142-88 record. He got his first head coaching job at Louisiana Tech in 2011, where he coached for four years and led the Bulldogs to a 101-40 record. Prior to entering the head coaching ranks, White spent seven seasons as an assistant for the Ole Miss program under head coaches Rod Barnes and Andy Kennedy. A graduate of Ole Miss himself, White was a four-year starter for the Rebels basketball team, helping them win two SEC West titles and a trio of NCAA Tournament berths. His 370 career assists rank as the seventh-most in school history, after leading the team in assists per game all four of his seasons on campus.
ANOTHER ONE
With an average of 12.6 offensive rebounds per game, the Rebels have been among the best in the country in earning second chances on the glass, currently ranking 41st in the nation. The team is led by senior transfer Myles Burns with 39 offensive rebounds (2.4 per game, 7th in the SEC).
TAKING THE FREE ONES
Junior Matthew Murrell is shooting an impressive 89.1% (49-55) from the free throw line to begin the season, which is tops in the SEC and ranks 24th in the country. As it stands, his current percentage would rank as the fourth-best free throw percentage in a single season at Ole Miss.
Ole Miss Men's Basketball - Free Throw Percentage in a Season Top Five
1. Chris Warren, 2011: 92.8%
2. Stefan Moody, 2015: 90.3%
3. David Rhodes, 1972: 90.1%
4. Marshall Henderson, 2013: 88.3%
5. Deandre Burnett, 2017: 88.1%
WHEN IT COUNTS
Ole Miss has been especially strong in the second half this season, shooting 46.4 percent overall in the back half. Additionally, the Rebels have put up a +2.8 rebounding margin in the second half this season, while junior Matthew Murrell is averaging 9.1 points per second half this season. At the ESPN Events Invitational, Ole Miss shot a blistering 55 percent overall, led by 14.3 points per second half by Amaree Abram, who was also 5-of-6 from three and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the back half.
BLOCK PARTY
The Ole Miss defense currently averages 65.9 points allowed per game, only letting their opponents top 70 points three times this year. A major part of their defensive identity has been enforcing the paint, as the Rebels rank 25th in the country and fifth in the SEC in blocks per game (5.1). They are led down low by senior transfers Theo Akwuba (24 total blocks, 1.5 per game) and Jayveous McKinnis (18 total blocks, 1.2 per game).
On January 3 at No. 7 Alabama, Akwuba and McKinnis combined for seven blocks, with Akwuba's four bringing his collegiate career total to 200. He and McKinnis (248 career blocks) are the only two teammates in college basketball with over 200 swats in their careers, and each rank among the top-10 in active career leaders.
DEEP POCKETS
The Rebels' depth has been on full display to begin the season, as the Ole Miss bench has accounted for over a third of the team's scoring through their first 16 games (37.5%, 408 of 1,088 points). The Rebs have topped their opponents in bench points in 11 of 16 contests, and are outscoring their foes' benches by 122 on the year (408 to 286). Their 25.5 points per game off the bench rank 60th across college basketball and fifth in the SEC.
RENAISSANCE MAN
Senior transfer Myles Burns has made an immediate impact for the Rebels on both ends of the floor with a unique talent blend as a defensive force and a go-getter on the offensive glass. Burns ranks 31st in the NCAA with an average of 2.2 steals per game, while also ranking seventh in the conference at 2.4 offensive boards per game.
Prior to Ole Miss, Burns had an extraordinary career at Loyola New Orleans, where he was a four-time NAIA All-American and three-time SSAC Defensive Player of the Year. With the Wolf Pack, Burns played in 120 career games with 111 starts, while setting career averages of 15.3 points (1,852), 8.8 rebounds (1,069), 3.0 steals (358), 2.5 assists (298) and 1.0 blocks (116). In Loyola's record book, Burns ranks No. 1 in steals (358), No. 2 all-time in points (1,852), No. 2 in rebounds (1,069), No. 4 in blocks (116) and No. 7 in assists (298), with his 358 steals resting 163 more than any other player in Loyola history.
Burns helped lead Loyola to the 2022 NAIA National Championship title, the first in school history since 1945, as the tournament MVP at 19.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 5.2 steals with four double-doubles in six tournament games.
Burns is no stranger to dominating these two distinct statistical categories, as his 151 offensive rebounds and 152 steals in 2021-22 had no rival in all of college basketball, with the nearest Division I comparison being defending national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky, who had 179 offensive rebounds and 60 steals last season. Furthermore, Burns' 152 steals last season earned him the 2022 Marques Haynes Award, which is given annually to the player with the most steals in all of college basketball, regardless of division.
CAN'T BRAKE HIS COMPOSURE
In Ole Miss' game against No. 7 Tennessee, Jaemyn Brakefield shot a perfect 4-4 from three-point range, setting a season-high with 18 points in the process. The junior from Jackson, Miss. became just the eighth Rebel in program history to remain perfect from deep in a game with a minimum of four attempts. The last to do so was Devontae Shuler on Dec. 10, 2020 against Jackson State when he went 5-5.
BEST OF THE BEST
Ole Miss' four senior transfers are among some of the best returning big men in all of college basketball. Jayveous McKinnis stands as one of the best returners in the nation this year, currently fifth in total rebounds (1,063), fifth in total blocks (250), seventh in career double-doubles (38), ninth in rebounds per game (8.9), 10th in blocks per game (2.1) and 22nd in field goal shooting (.609). McKinnis is one of just eight active players in all of college basketball with 1,000 career rebounds alongside South Alabama's Kevin Samuel (1,202), North Carolina's Armando Bacot (1,170), Nicholls' Manny Littles (1,080), Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe (1,064), Lipscomb's Ahsan Asadullah (1,046), LSU's KJ Williams (1,010), and Virginia's Jayden Gardner (1,003). He is also just one of seven, alongside Samuel, Bacot, Tshiebwe, Asadullah, Williams, and Gardner with 1,000 career points (1,139) and 1,000 career rebounds.
Ole Miss is one of two schools with multiple top-25 rebounders on the active career list alongside Texas Tech. McKinnis (1,063) and Josh Mballa (825; No. 23) combine for 1,888 career rebounds, the second-most among teammates behind Texas Tech's 1,904 from Kevin Obanor (986) and Fardaws Almaq (918).
Ole Miss also ranks highly on the career blocks list with two top-10 entries. McKinnis ranks fifth at 250 swats, while Theo Akwuba is 10th at 206. Ole Miss stands as the only school with multiple top-10 active blockers and is the only school with two within the top-25. The Rebel trio of McKinnis (38, No. 7), Mballa (29, No. 16) and Akwuba (17) combine for 84 career double-doubles, with McKinnis and Mballa owning the second-most by a pair of teammates at 67 behind Texas Tech's Almaq (41) and Obanor (36) at 77.
* Note: Myles Burns' 1,069 career rebounds while at NAIA Loyola New Orleans do not transfer over to the NCAA records lists, but he would rank second in the nation at 1,173 if they did and give Ole Miss a combined 4,426 boards between Burns (1,173), McKinnis (1,063), Mballa (825), Akwuba (687) and Robert Allen (678). Burns' combined career total of 1,959 points would also rank No. 19 among all NCAA divisions.
AIN'T WASTING TIME NO MORE
With eight new faces for Ole Miss this season, the Rebel newcomers are already seeing serious minutes, and contributing in all major stat categories.
Newcomer Splits:
Minutes: 52.8% (1,690 of 3,200)
Scoring: 45.2% (492 of 1,088)
Rebounding: 53.0% (318 of 600)
Assists: 45.7% (90 of 197)
Steals: 59.5% (72 of 121)
Blocks: 81.7% (67 of 82)
Newcomer Scoring:
vs. Alcorn State: 29 of 73 (39.7%)
vs. Florida Atlantic: 36 of 80 (45.0%)
vs. Chattanooga: 33 of 70 (47.1%)
vs. UT Martin: 35 of 72 (48.6%)
vs. Stanford: 48 of 72 (66.7%)
vs. Siena: 37 of 74 (50.0%)
vs. Stanford: 39 of 55 (70.1%)
at Memphis: 32 of 57 (56.1%)
vs. Valparaiso: 27 of 98 (27.6%)
vs. UCF: 38 of 61 (62.3%)
vs. Temple: 24 of 63 (38.1%)
vs. North Alabama: 26 of 65 (40.0%)
vs. Tennessee: 27 of 59 (45.8%)
vs. Alabama: 25 of 62 (40.3%)
at Mississippi State: 19 of 54 (35.2%)
vs. Auburn: 17 of 73 (23.3%)
DYNAMIC DUO
Matthew Murrell and sophomore Daeshun Ruffin were a potent combo when on the court together last season, giving Ole Miss two of the SEC's top returning guards for 2022-23. Last year, the duo combined for 24.7 PPG, 5.1 APG, 3.1 SPG, shot a combined .408 from the field and .343 from 3PT.
So far this season the two rank first (Murrell) and third (Ruffin) on the team in scoring average, and have combined for 25.1 PPG, 5.1 APG, and 1.7 SPG in their nine games together.
THROUGH THE FIRE
Ole Miss has faced off with some of the best competition college basketball has to offer, as the Rebels current strength of schedule ranks sixth in the nation. With a combined opponent record of 162-86 (0.653), they have taken on eight foes with a current NET ranking in the top-100, including seven in the top-50 and two in the top-10.
YEAR FIVE FOR COACH DAVIS
Kermit Davis enters his fifth season at the helm of Ole Miss basketball. Over his first four seasons, Davis has led the Rebels to a pair of postseason appearances, going to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 and the NIT in 2021 (2020 postseason was cancelled due to COVID-19). With 72 victories as head coach of the Rebels, Davis is one of only four coaches in Ole Miss history to rack up at least 50 wins over their first three seasons. A nine-time conference coach of the year, Davis has 475 career Division I wins over 25 seasons, including stints at Middle Tennessee, Idaho and Texas A&M. In 28 seasons as a college basketball head coach, he has amassed 541 wins.
DAVIS ERA TRENDS TO WATCH
• 58-24 when leading at half
• 6-0 when scoring 90+, 30-4 when scoring 80+, 56-23 when scoring 70+
• 51-21 when winning the rebounding battle
• 33-5 when at 50 percent shooting or better
• 20-8 when shooting 40 percent or better from three
• 39-8 when keeping opponents below 40 percent shooting
EXPERIENCE FROM THE PORTAL
Ole Miss went into the portal looking for experienced big men, and came away with four of the most well-seasoned options available. Those four senior transfers -- F Theo Akwuba, F Myles Burns, F Josh Mballa and F Jayveous McKinnis -- hold an incredible combined career stat lines across their respective careers prior to Ole Miss:
Combined Career Stats (NAIA included for Burns):
• 485 games played
• 375 games started
• 4,970 points
• 3,748 rebounds
• 664 steals (393 from Burns alone)
• 656 blocks
From UM Media Relations:
| OLE MISS (8-8, 0-4 SEC) vs. GEORGIA (12-4, 2-1 SEC) Saturday, Jan. 14 • 12 p.m. CT • Oxford, Miss. SJB Pavilion (9,500) 
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| Watch • Live Stats • Listen Ole Miss Game Notes • Georgia Game Notes • SEC Game Notes |
OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss men's basketball team is set to face off with the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, January 14 at noon in the SJB Pavilion and on the SEC Network.
TEAM FACTS
Ole Miss Rebels (8-8, 0-4 SEC)
Head Coach: Kermit Davis • 5th Season at Ole Miss (72-69) • 541-332 career record (28th Season)
Georgia Bulldogs (12-4, 2-1 SEC)
Head Coach: Mike White • 1st Season at Georgia (14-4) • 255-132 career record (12th Season)
ON THE AIR
Television/Online: SEC Network
Play-by-Play: Dave Neal
Color: Jon Sundvold
OLE MISS RADIO
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: David Kellum
Color: Marc Dukes
SERIES HISTORY VS. GEORGIA
Ole Miss and Georgia will face off on the court for the 123rd time on Saturday, with the Bulldogs owning a 76-46 all-time lead in the series. At home in Oxford, the Rebels lead 28-24 and are 6-4 over the last ten games played in Mississippi. While Georgia holds a 6-4 advantage over the previous 10 games, Ole Miss has won four of seven played under head coach Kermit Davis.
LAST MEETING: FEBRUARY 19, 2022 (W, 85-68, ATHENS, GA., STEGEMAN COLISEUM)
• While Ole Miss led a majority of the first half, it was a narrow game through the first 20 minutes, as 12 first-half points from Austin Crowley helped give the Rebels a 42-38 lead at the break.
• A huge second-half from Tye Fagan against his previous school helped fuel a 43-30 second half for Ole Miss, as they would go on to win by 17.
• Four Rebels scored in double figures: Fagan (20), Jaemyn Brakefield (19), Crowley (18), and Nysier Brooks (10).
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Georgia enters their game with the Rebels owning a 12-4 record, having gone 2-1 in conference thus far. After opening SEC play with a 76-64 win over Auburn at home, they fell to Florida on the road 82-75 before defeating Mississippi State 58-50 in Athens.
Georgia has kept their opponents scoring at bay during the 2022-23 season, owning a 64.2 points allowed per game average (No. 56 NCAA, No. 5 SEC), while holding their foes to a three-point field goal percentage of 28.4 (No. 15 NCAA, No. 5 SEC). The Bulldogs have been strong on the glass through their first 16 games, owning a +6.1 rebounding margin (No. 32 NCAA, No. 4 SEC) and an average of 39.1 boards per game (No. 39 NCAA, No. 3 SEC).
Terry Roberts leads Georgia in scoring at 15.7 points per game, the sixth-best clip in the SEC. The senior guard has been on fire during conference play, leading the SEC with an average of 22.3 points per contest after scoring 26 in their win over Auburn, 25 at Florida, and 16 in their matchup with MSU. Roberts also ranks third on the year in the SEC in assists per game at 4.1.
First-year head coach Mike White leads the Bulldogs after spending the previous seven seasons at Florida where he compiled a 142-88 record. He got his first head coaching job at Louisiana Tech in 2011, where he coached for four years and led the Bulldogs to a 101-40 record. Prior to entering the head coaching ranks, White spent seven seasons as an assistant for the Ole Miss program under head coaches Rod Barnes and Andy Kennedy. A graduate of Ole Miss himself, White was a four-year starter for the Rebels basketball team, helping them win two SEC West titles and a trio of NCAA Tournament berths. His 370 career assists rank as the seventh-most in school history, after leading the team in assists per game all four of his seasons on campus.
ANOTHER ONE
With an average of 12.6 offensive rebounds per game, the Rebels have been among the best in the country in earning second chances on the glass, currently ranking 41st in the nation. The team is led by senior transfer Myles Burns with 39 offensive rebounds (2.4 per game, 7th in the SEC).
TAKING THE FREE ONES
Junior Matthew Murrell is shooting an impressive 89.1% (49-55) from the free throw line to begin the season, which is tops in the SEC and ranks 24th in the country. As it stands, his current percentage would rank as the fourth-best free throw percentage in a single season at Ole Miss.
Ole Miss Men's Basketball - Free Throw Percentage in a Season Top Five
1. Chris Warren, 2011: 92.8%
2. Stefan Moody, 2015: 90.3%
3. David Rhodes, 1972: 90.1%
4. Marshall Henderson, 2013: 88.3%
5. Deandre Burnett, 2017: 88.1%
WHEN IT COUNTS
Ole Miss has been especially strong in the second half this season, shooting 46.4 percent overall in the back half. Additionally, the Rebels have put up a +2.8 rebounding margin in the second half this season, while junior Matthew Murrell is averaging 9.1 points per second half this season. At the ESPN Events Invitational, Ole Miss shot a blistering 55 percent overall, led by 14.3 points per second half by Amaree Abram, who was also 5-of-6 from three and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the back half.
BLOCK PARTY
The Ole Miss defense currently averages 65.9 points allowed per game, only letting their opponents top 70 points three times this year. A major part of their defensive identity has been enforcing the paint, as the Rebels rank 25th in the country and fifth in the SEC in blocks per game (5.1). They are led down low by senior transfers Theo Akwuba (24 total blocks, 1.5 per game) and Jayveous McKinnis (18 total blocks, 1.2 per game).
On January 3 at No. 7 Alabama, Akwuba and McKinnis combined for seven blocks, with Akwuba's four bringing his collegiate career total to 200. He and McKinnis (248 career blocks) are the only two teammates in college basketball with over 200 swats in their careers, and each rank among the top-10 in active career leaders.
DEEP POCKETS
The Rebels' depth has been on full display to begin the season, as the Ole Miss bench has accounted for over a third of the team's scoring through their first 16 games (37.5%, 408 of 1,088 points). The Rebs have topped their opponents in bench points in 11 of 16 contests, and are outscoring their foes' benches by 122 on the year (408 to 286). Their 25.5 points per game off the bench rank 60th across college basketball and fifth in the SEC.
RENAISSANCE MAN
Senior transfer Myles Burns has made an immediate impact for the Rebels on both ends of the floor with a unique talent blend as a defensive force and a go-getter on the offensive glass. Burns ranks 31st in the NCAA with an average of 2.2 steals per game, while also ranking seventh in the conference at 2.4 offensive boards per game.
Prior to Ole Miss, Burns had an extraordinary career at Loyola New Orleans, where he was a four-time NAIA All-American and three-time SSAC Defensive Player of the Year. With the Wolf Pack, Burns played in 120 career games with 111 starts, while setting career averages of 15.3 points (1,852), 8.8 rebounds (1,069), 3.0 steals (358), 2.5 assists (298) and 1.0 blocks (116). In Loyola's record book, Burns ranks No. 1 in steals (358), No. 2 all-time in points (1,852), No. 2 in rebounds (1,069), No. 4 in blocks (116) and No. 7 in assists (298), with his 358 steals resting 163 more than any other player in Loyola history.
Burns helped lead Loyola to the 2022 NAIA National Championship title, the first in school history since 1945, as the tournament MVP at 19.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 5.2 steals with four double-doubles in six tournament games.
Burns is no stranger to dominating these two distinct statistical categories, as his 151 offensive rebounds and 152 steals in 2021-22 had no rival in all of college basketball, with the nearest Division I comparison being defending national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky, who had 179 offensive rebounds and 60 steals last season. Furthermore, Burns' 152 steals last season earned him the 2022 Marques Haynes Award, which is given annually to the player with the most steals in all of college basketball, regardless of division.
CAN'T BRAKE HIS COMPOSURE
In Ole Miss' game against No. 7 Tennessee, Jaemyn Brakefield shot a perfect 4-4 from three-point range, setting a season-high with 18 points in the process. The junior from Jackson, Miss. became just the eighth Rebel in program history to remain perfect from deep in a game with a minimum of four attempts. The last to do so was Devontae Shuler on Dec. 10, 2020 against Jackson State when he went 5-5.
BEST OF THE BEST
Ole Miss' four senior transfers are among some of the best returning big men in all of college basketball. Jayveous McKinnis stands as one of the best returners in the nation this year, currently fifth in total rebounds (1,063), fifth in total blocks (250), seventh in career double-doubles (38), ninth in rebounds per game (8.9), 10th in blocks per game (2.1) and 22nd in field goal shooting (.609). McKinnis is one of just eight active players in all of college basketball with 1,000 career rebounds alongside South Alabama's Kevin Samuel (1,202), North Carolina's Armando Bacot (1,170), Nicholls' Manny Littles (1,080), Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe (1,064), Lipscomb's Ahsan Asadullah (1,046), LSU's KJ Williams (1,010), and Virginia's Jayden Gardner (1,003). He is also just one of seven, alongside Samuel, Bacot, Tshiebwe, Asadullah, Williams, and Gardner with 1,000 career points (1,139) and 1,000 career rebounds.
Ole Miss is one of two schools with multiple top-25 rebounders on the active career list alongside Texas Tech. McKinnis (1,063) and Josh Mballa (825; No. 23) combine for 1,888 career rebounds, the second-most among teammates behind Texas Tech's 1,904 from Kevin Obanor (986) and Fardaws Almaq (918).
Ole Miss also ranks highly on the career blocks list with two top-10 entries. McKinnis ranks fifth at 250 swats, while Theo Akwuba is 10th at 206. Ole Miss stands as the only school with multiple top-10 active blockers and is the only school with two within the top-25. The Rebel trio of McKinnis (38, No. 7), Mballa (29, No. 16) and Akwuba (17) combine for 84 career double-doubles, with McKinnis and Mballa owning the second-most by a pair of teammates at 67 behind Texas Tech's Almaq (41) and Obanor (36) at 77.
* Note: Myles Burns' 1,069 career rebounds while at NAIA Loyola New Orleans do not transfer over to the NCAA records lists, but he would rank second in the nation at 1,173 if they did and give Ole Miss a combined 4,426 boards between Burns (1,173), McKinnis (1,063), Mballa (825), Akwuba (687) and Robert Allen (678). Burns' combined career total of 1,959 points would also rank No. 19 among all NCAA divisions.
AIN'T WASTING TIME NO MORE
With eight new faces for Ole Miss this season, the Rebel newcomers are already seeing serious minutes, and contributing in all major stat categories.
Newcomer Splits:
Minutes: 52.8% (1,690 of 3,200)
Scoring: 45.2% (492 of 1,088)
Rebounding: 53.0% (318 of 600)
Assists: 45.7% (90 of 197)
Steals: 59.5% (72 of 121)
Blocks: 81.7% (67 of 82)
Newcomer Scoring:
vs. Alcorn State: 29 of 73 (39.7%)
vs. Florida Atlantic: 36 of 80 (45.0%)
vs. Chattanooga: 33 of 70 (47.1%)
vs. UT Martin: 35 of 72 (48.6%)
vs. Stanford: 48 of 72 (66.7%)
vs. Siena: 37 of 74 (50.0%)
vs. Stanford: 39 of 55 (70.1%)
at Memphis: 32 of 57 (56.1%)
vs. Valparaiso: 27 of 98 (27.6%)
vs. UCF: 38 of 61 (62.3%)
vs. Temple: 24 of 63 (38.1%)
vs. North Alabama: 26 of 65 (40.0%)
vs. Tennessee: 27 of 59 (45.8%)
vs. Alabama: 25 of 62 (40.3%)
at Mississippi State: 19 of 54 (35.2%)
vs. Auburn: 17 of 73 (23.3%)
DYNAMIC DUO
Matthew Murrell and sophomore Daeshun Ruffin were a potent combo when on the court together last season, giving Ole Miss two of the SEC's top returning guards for 2022-23. Last year, the duo combined for 24.7 PPG, 5.1 APG, 3.1 SPG, shot a combined .408 from the field and .343 from 3PT.
So far this season the two rank first (Murrell) and third (Ruffin) on the team in scoring average, and have combined for 25.1 PPG, 5.1 APG, and 1.7 SPG in their nine games together.
THROUGH THE FIRE
Ole Miss has faced off with some of the best competition college basketball has to offer, as the Rebels current strength of schedule ranks sixth in the nation. With a combined opponent record of 162-86 (0.653), they have taken on eight foes with a current NET ranking in the top-100, including seven in the top-50 and two in the top-10.
YEAR FIVE FOR COACH DAVIS
Kermit Davis enters his fifth season at the helm of Ole Miss basketball. Over his first four seasons, Davis has led the Rebels to a pair of postseason appearances, going to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 and the NIT in 2021 (2020 postseason was cancelled due to COVID-19). With 72 victories as head coach of the Rebels, Davis is one of only four coaches in Ole Miss history to rack up at least 50 wins over their first three seasons. A nine-time conference coach of the year, Davis has 475 career Division I wins over 25 seasons, including stints at Middle Tennessee, Idaho and Texas A&M. In 28 seasons as a college basketball head coach, he has amassed 541 wins.
DAVIS ERA TRENDS TO WATCH
• 58-24 when leading at half
• 6-0 when scoring 90+, 30-4 when scoring 80+, 56-23 when scoring 70+
• 51-21 when winning the rebounding battle
• 33-5 when at 50 percent shooting or better
• 20-8 when shooting 40 percent or better from three
• 39-8 when keeping opponents below 40 percent shooting
EXPERIENCE FROM THE PORTAL
Ole Miss went into the portal looking for experienced big men, and came away with four of the most well-seasoned options available. Those four senior transfers -- F Theo Akwuba, F Myles Burns, F Josh Mballa and F Jayveous McKinnis -- hold an incredible combined career stat lines across their respective careers prior to Ole Miss:
Combined Career Stats (NAIA included for Burns):
• 485 games played
• 375 games started
• 4,970 points
• 3,748 rebounds
• 664 steals (393 from Burns alone)
• 656 blocks
