The University of Mississippi Athletics
Men's Hoops Welcomes UNA For Exhibition Sunday
11/3/2017 | Men's Basketball
EXHIBITION
Matchup: North Alabama vs. Ole Miss
Date: Sunday, November 5, 2017
Time: 3 p.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Arena: The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500)
Television: SECN+
Will Kollmeyer, play-by-play
Marc Dukes, analyst
Radio: None
Live Audio: N/A
Live Video: WatchESPN.com
Series: Ole Miss leads 5-0
Regular Season: Ole Miss leads 4-0
Exhibition: Ole Miss leads 1-0
Last Meeting: OM W, 115-81 (Exhibition)
October 31, 2008
TIPOFF
- Ole Miss opens the 2017-18 season Sunday with an exhibition game against the University of North Alabama and will tip off its 108th season of basketball at home Nov. 10 against Louisiana.
- Aside from the Halloween exhibition game in 2008, Ole Miss faced the Lions four times from 1953-62 when they were known as Florence State.
- The Rebels won last season's exhibition contest against Morehouse College, 90-66.
- Ole Miss will begin its second full season inside The Pavilion at Ole Miss.
- The Rebels were predicted to finish 10th in the SEC this year by the media. Ole Miss finished tied for fifth in the league standings after being projected ninth in the preseason media poll last year.
- Ole Miss begins the 12th season of the Andy Kennedy era; Kennedy, the Dean of the SEC, is the winningest coach in school history with 234 victories.
- Kennedy has fourth-most wins in SEC history by a coach in his first 11 years in the league at one school, trailing only Joe B. Hall (Kentucky), Billy Donovan (Florida) and Wimp Sanderson (Alabama).
- Ole Miss returns four starters from last year's squad (Deandre Burnett - 27, Terence Davis - 27, Breein Tyree - 23 and Justas Furmanavicius - 17). Add in Marcanvis Hymon, Rebel returners combined for 118 starts last season.
- Ole Miss returns two of its top three scorers from a year ago in Preseason All-SEC honorees Deandre Burnett (16.5 ppg) and Terence Davis (14.9 ppg).
- Combining for 31.4 ppg, the duo of Burnett and Davis is the highest scoring returning combo in the SEC and the 13th-highest in the nation this season.
- The Rebels added a mixture of talented college transfers and high school signings including: Markel Crawford (graduate transfer from Memphis who averaged 12.8 ppg last year), Bruce Stevens (JUCO All-American who averaged 16.2 ppg and 11.6 rpg last season), Dominik Olejniczak (7-footer who sat out last season after transferring from Drake) and Devontae Shuler (a composite four-star guard rated the No. 100 player in the nation by 247 Sports and Scout.com).
OLE MISS OPENS 108TH YEAR OF HOOPS
Ole Miss opens the 2016-17 season Sunday with an exhibition game against North Alabama and will tip off its 108th season of basketball Nov. 10 at home versus Louisiana. The Rebels have an all-time record of 1281-1282 in 107 years of basketball.
SCOUTING NORTH ALABAMA
North Alabama, an NCAA Division II institution and member of the Gulf South Conference, posted a 14-15 record during the 2016-17 campaign. The Lions are beginning their final season in Division II as they will make the jump to the Atlantic Sun Conference next year. UNA returns six lettermen from last season's squad, including guards Tavaras Tolliver and Jeff Hodge. Tolliver averaged 10.2 ppg a season ago, while Hodge added 9.0 ppg. Bobby Champagne is in his 15th year as head coach of the Lions, holding a 230-181 record with four NCAA Tournament appearances during his tenure.
SERIES VS. NORTH ALABAMA
Ole Miss holds a 5-0 advantage all-time versus North Alabama that includes four regular season games and one exhibition game. The Rebels hosted the Lions nine years ago for an exhibition contest on Halloween. It was the first meeting between the two schools in 46 years. From 1953-1962, the two programs faced off four times when UNA was known as Florence State.
LAST TIME WE MET
The last time the Rebels and Lions met, Ole Miss cruised to a 115-81 victory at Tad Smith Coliseum (Oct. 31, 2008). Rebel junior DeAundre Cranston paced the way for Ole Miss as he poured in 16 points, including two three-pointers. Malcolm White, Terrance Henry and Terrico White each chipped in with 14 points as every Rebel on the Ole Miss roster scored at least one point. Ole Miss broke the century mark in an exhibition contest for the third straight year.
12TH YEAR OF THE KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION
In 11 seasons under Mississippi native Andy Kennedy, Ole Miss has a 234-140 record, one SEC Tournament championship, two SEC West championships, nine 20-win campaigns and eight postseason berths, which includes two NCAA Tournament appearances and pair of trips to the NIT Final Four. The all-time winningest coach in school history, Kennedy has averaged more than 21 wins per season in his 11 years in Oxford after the Rebels posted just three 21-win seasons in the 96 years before his arrival.
UNDERRATED REBELS
Coming off a season in which they finished 22-14 (10-8 SEC) and made a run to the quarterfinals of the NIT, the Rebels were predicted to finish 10th in the SEC this year by the media. Ole Miss finished tied for fifth in the league standings after being projected ninth in the preseason media poll last year. The Rebels have finished above their preseason projected finish each of the last six seasons since the league moved away from a divisional format.
BURNETT AND DAVIS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-SEC
Ole Miss guards Deandre Burnett and Terence Davis were tabbed second team Preseason All-SEC selections by a select panel of both SEC and national media members, the league office announced at the annual SEC Basketball Media Days. The Rebels are one of only three SEC teams to have multiple players on the lists, joining Kentucky and Texas A&M. Both Rebels earned Preseason All-SEC distinction for the first time in their careers. Averaging a combined 31.4 points per game last season, Burnett and Davis return as the highest scoring duo in the SEC and the 13th-highest scoring tandem in the country.
