Men's Hoops Breaks Out Powder Blue Saturday

			OLE MISS (4-2, 0-0 SEC) vs. ULM (3-3, 0-0 Sun Belt) Saturday, Dec. 1 • 1 PM • Oxford, Miss. The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500) Powder Blue Out
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GAME 7
Matchup: ULM (3-3) vs. Ole Miss (4-2)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018
Time: 1 p.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Arena: The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500)
Television: SEC Network+
   Seth Austin, play-by-play
   Marc Dukes, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss IMG Sports Network (XM-381)
   David Kellum, play-by-play
   Sean Tuohy, analyst
Live Video: WatchESPN.com
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com
Series: Ole Miss leads 15-4
Last Meeting: Dec. 18, 2013
   Ole Miss won 75-62 (Oxford, Miss.)

TIPOFF TIDBITS
- Ole Miss is donning powder blue uniforms for the first time, its fifth different jersey color.
- The Rebels are playing back-to-back home games for the first time this season.
- Ole Miss has won 12 straight games over ULM dating back to 1998.
- The Rebels are 67-19 all-time against members of the Sun Belt Conference.
- Ole Miss ranks second in the SEC and 10th nationally in free throw percentage (79.0), shooting 85.5 percent (65-76) at the line over the last three games.
- The Rebels are coming off a 93-86 victory over San Diego, setting a Pavilion record for shooting percentage (61.1); it was the best field goal percentage in a game since Jan. 22, 2011 at LSU (62.2 percent).
- Five Rebels scored in double figures versus San Diego, the first time Ole Miss has accomplished that feat since last season against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Dec. 19, 2017).
- Breein Tyree (17.5 ppg) leads the team in scoring and ranks third in the SEC; he is averaging 21.3 ppg over the last three games.
- Tyree has scored double figures in 12 straight games.
- Freshmen KJ Buffen and Blake Hinson scored 15 points apiece in the win over San Diego, both career highs.
- Devontae Shuler leads the SEC in playing time at 34.7 minutes per game, while ranking fifth in the conference in steals (1.8 per game).
- A Preseason Second Team All-SEC selection by the coaches, Terence Davis ranks 33rd in Ole Miss history with 1,099 career points, passing Terrance Henry in the win over San Diego.
- Terence Davis dished out a career-high nine assists and added 20 points against San Diego, the 15th 20-point game of his career.
- Kermit Davis, a native of Leakesville, Mississippi, is in his first year at Ole Miss after spending the last 16 seasons at Middle Tennessee and becoming the winningest coach in school history as well as Sun Belt Conference history.
- With 473 career wins, Kermit Davis ranks 141st all-time and 32nd among active Division I head coaches.

SEC LEADERS
- Ole Miss ranks second in the SEC in free throw shooting (79.0 percent) and rebounding defense (29.2 per game).
- Devontae Shuler leads the SEC in playing time (34.7 minutes per game).
- Shuler ranks fifth in steals per game (1.8) and ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.5).
- Breein Tyree ranks third in scoring (17.5 ppg) and fourth in free throw shooting (83.3 percent).
- Tyree ranks seventh in playing time (31.7 minutes per game) and ninth in field goal percentage (50.8).
- Terence Davis ranks ninth in blocks per game (1.8).

SCOUTING ULM
ULM enters Saturday's contest with a 3-3 record following an 80-52 win at Northwestern State on Tuesday. The Warhawks have played five of their first six games on the road, including matchups at Texas and Michigan State. Battling the Rebels will wrap-up a four-game road trip for ULM. The Warhawks do damage from beyond the arc on both ends of the floor. Starting on defense, ULM holds opponents to a 26.8 percentage from long range to rank 19th nationally. Shooting 40.5 percent from three themselves, the Warhawks are second in the Sun Belt and 35th in the country. Senior guard Daishon Smith leads the team in scoring at 20.0 ppg. After missing three straight games, Smith returned to the ULM lineup Tuesday night and recorded a game-high 26 points in the Warhawks' win. Balanced scoring follows Smith with JD Williams (12.8 ppg), Michael Ertel (12.7 ppg) and Travis Munnings (12.7 ppg). Playing 36.7 minutes per game, Munnings leads the Sun Belt and ranks 27th nationally in playing time. Keith Richard is in his ninth season as head coach of the Warhawks.

ALL-TIME VS. THE WARHAWKS
Ole Miss leads the all-time series 15-4 with wins in the last 12 meetings. The series began in 1969 with ULM claiming the lid lifter 85-80 in Oxford before the Rebels rattled of three straight victories over the next three seasons. ULM won the next three matchups from 1973-1990. After a eight-year hiatus, the series started back up in 1998 as the two schools began an annual meeting that lasted for the next 10 years and resulted in 10 Ole Miss wins. This decade, the Rebels have won both games with victories in 2011 and 2013.

LAST TIME WE MET
Five years ago (Dec. 18, 2013), Marshall Henderson scored 26 points and sparked a decisive 14-1 surge in the opening three minutes of the second half Ole Miss as defeated ULM 75-62. The Rebels used three consecutive 3-point shots from Henderson in the decisive run to build an insurmountable 51-34 lead with 16:52 left. Henderson finished 6 of 13 from 3-point range and added three rebounds and two steals. LaDarius White added 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Rebels, who shot 22 of 54 (40.7 percent) from the field. The Rebels led 37-33 at halftime and by as many as 20 points in the second half. Ole Miss, on the strength of Henderson's six long-range bombs, finished 10 of 25 (40.0 percent) from long range and 21 of 27 (77.8 percent) from the free-throw line.

FACING THE SUN BELT
Ole Miss has a 67-19 record against current members of the Sun Belt Conference. Along with holding a 15-4 advantage over ULM, the Rebels have also faced Appalachian State (2-0), Arkansas State (21-9), Coastal Carolina (3-0), Georgia Southern (1-1), Georgia State (2-0), Little Rock (3-0), Louisiana (4-4), South Alabama (5-1), Texas State (1-0) and Troy (10-0). The only Sun Belt team Ole Miss has not met on the hardwood is UT Arlington.

REBEL-WARHAWK CONNECTIONS
- Ole Miss freshman guard Franco Miller Jr. and Warhawks Calvin Anderson and Travis Munnings all hail from Freeport, Bahamas.
- Although they were never teammates, Munnings and Ole Miss freshman Blake Hinson played at Sunrise Christian Academy before taking their talents to the collegiate level.

A NEW ERA OF OLE MISS BASKETBALL
The 2018-19 season is the dawn of a new era for Ole Miss Basketball. A new head coach took the reins of the program when Kermit Davis was hired on March 15, 2018. Davis, the winningest coach in Middle Tennessee history, returns to his home state with years of success. A native of Leakesville, Mississippi, Davis guided the Blue Raiders to league titles in seven of his last nine years in Murfreesboro, between Conference USA and the Sun Belt. Middle Tennessee was one of five programs he led to conference championships in 36 years as an assistant and head coach. An eight-time conference coach of the year, Davis is 32nd among active Division I head coaches with 473 career wins (407 in Division I), including stints at MT, Idaho and Texas A&M. He ranks 11th nationally in winning percentage over the last three years and 13th over the last seven.

BREAKING OUT THE POWDER BLUE
For the first time in school history, the Rebels will wear powder blue uniforms on the court. Powder blue first appeared as the football helmet color decades ago before making its return to the gridiron in 2015 as an alternate helmet. Over the last few years, powder blue has become an alternate jersey for several Ole Miss athletic teams. The women's basketball team debuted a powder blue jersey against Western Michigan (Nov. 18), and the men will become the latest Rebels to don powder blue on Saturday.

LIGHTING UP THE PAVILION
The offense has put up some record shooting percentages early in the first year under Kermit Davis. In Wednesday's win over San Diego, the Rebels shot 61.1 percent (33 of 54). It was the best shooting percentage by an Ole Miss squad since going 28 of 45 (62.2 percent) in a 78-51 win at LSU nearly eight years ago (Jan. 22, 2011). The mark also set a new Pavilion record by seven percentage points. The previous record occurred in this year's season opener versus Western Michigan as well as against LSU on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14, 2017). Ole Miss boasted a 54.1 field goal percentage (33 of 61) in both of those victories. No opposing team has shot better than 53 percent in The Pavilion.

REBELS BREAK PAVILION RECORD TO TOP TOREROS
A balanced offense led to a record-breaking night and a win for the Ole Miss men's basketball team Wednesday. Shooting 61.1 percent (33 of 54) from the field, the best by any team in the short history of The Pavilion, the Rebels had five players score double digits in a 93-86 victory over a solid San Diego squad. Breein Tyree continued his strong play as of late, tallying a team-high 22 points on 6 of 7 shooting and a perfect 8 for 8 at the charity stripe. Terence Davis was back to his normal self by adding 20 points to go along with a career-high nine assists. Freshmen KJ Buffen and Blake Hinson had their biggest games as young Rebels, both recording career highs of 15 points apiece. Coming off a career-high game of his own in the Emerald Coast Classic, sophomore guard Devontae Shuler had 13 points. Along with balanced scoring, the Rebels found success at the free throw line by shooting 87.0 percent (20 of 23).

CONVERTING AT THE CHARITY STRIPE
As a team, Ole Miss ranks second in the SEC and 10th nationally in free throw percentage (79.0). Nine of the 10 Rebels that have attempted free throws this season are shooting over 70 percent from the stripe. The Rebels knocked down their free throws at the Emerald Coast Classic, making 45 of 53 (84.9 percent) during the two-game weekend. In the championship game against Cincinnati, Ole Miss converted 16 of 17 at the line for a 94.1 percent clip. It was the Rebels' best free throw percentage in a game since going 22 of 23 (95.7 percent) versus Baylor during the 2016-17 campaign (Jan. 28, 2017). The team followed that up by shooting 87.0 percent (20 of 23) from the stripe to help defeat San Diego. Through the last three games, Ole Miss has gotten to the line often and shooting to the tune of 85.5 percent (65 of 76). Breein Tyree leads the Rebels as a 83.3 percent free throw shooter (35 of 42), ranked fourth in the SEC.

MINUTE MONSTER
Averaging 34.7 minutes per game, sophomore guard Devontae Shuler leads the SEC in playing time. He has played at least 30 minutes in five the Rebels' six games, including a career-high 38 minutes in the win over Baylor. As a freshman a season ago, Shuler averaged 18.8 minutes per game and only played 30 minutes once (33 minutes versus South Dakota State).

STEADY TYREE
Junior guard Breein Tyree has become one the veteran leaders on the floor. His consistency has allowed him to become the team's leading scorer early on in the season, averaging 17.5 ppg to rank third in the SEC. Over the last 12 games dating back to last season, Tyree has reached double figures in every contest. He had the best game of his career last Friday, putting up a personal-best 28 points to lead Ole Miss to a victory over Baylor. He followed that up with a 14-point performance versus Cincinnati before tallying a team-high 22 points against San Diego. Through the trio of games, Tyree is averaging 21.3 ppg.

STAT-STUFFING SHULER
Sometimes the biggest jumps are from one's freshman to sophomore year. After playing in all 32 games last year, primarily coming off the bench, sophomore Devontae Shuler has gotten off to a fast start this season. Through six games as a starting guard, he has stuffed box scores by leading the Rebels in minutes (34.7 per game) and steals (1.8 per game), while ranking second in rebounds (4.8 per game) and assists (3.0 per game). Shuler is the SEC leader in playing time, while ranking fifth in steals per game. In the Emerald Coast Classic versus Cincinnati, he tallied a career-high 24 points to best his previous high of 19 last season against South Dakota State. On the road at Butler, Shuler tallied team highs in rebounds (8), assists (5) and steals (3). The eight-rebound performance was a career high for the Irmo, South Carolina, native. He followed that up with nine points, seven rebounds, a career-high six assists and three steals in last week's win versus Nicholls.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Senior Terence Davis has 1,099 points to rank 33rd in Ole Miss history. He is on pace to crack the top 20, and with a big year, could find himself in the top 10 to end his Rebel career. With 30 points at Butler, Davis passed Todd Abernethy (1,036), Denver Brackeen (1,040) and Ron Coleman (1,046) to move from 39th to 36th. Last week, he passed Jason Harrison (1,066) by recording a team-high 14 points versus Nicholls and then leapfrogged Coolidge Ball (1,072) in the win over Baylor. He scored 20 points on Tuesday to pass Terrance Henry (1,095). Next on his chase up the chart are Fred Cox (1,102) and Joe Ayers (1,130). John Stroud is the Rebels' all-time scoring leader with 2,328 points.

TYREE AND SHULER EARN ALL-TOURNAMENT ACCOLADES
Producing career-high games at the beach this past weekend, Ole Miss guards Breein Tyree and Devontae Shuler earned spots on the Emerald Coast Classic All-Tournament Team. Tyree led the Rebels in scoring over the two games, averaging 21.0 ppg. His big night against Baylor, tallying a career-high 28 points, helped the Rebels beat the Bears to advance to the championship game. He followed that up with a 14-point night versus Cincinnati, scoring 12 of the team's 24 second half points. Despite not having a big scoring night, Shuler played a career-high 38 minutes and picked up a pair of steals versus Baylor before breaking out in the championship game. The sophomore eclipsed the 20-point barrier for the first time in his career, scoring 24 points and pulling down a team-high six rebounds.

NEXT ON THE HARDWOOD
Following back-to-back home games, Ole Miss has the midweek off due to final exams. After wrapping up the academic semester, the Rebels will fly north to Normal, Illinois. Ole Miss faces Illinois State next Saturday (Dec. 8) at Redbird Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and can be heard on the airwaves of the Ole Miss IMG Sports Network.

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Players Mentioned

KJ Buffen

Terence Davis

Blake Hinson

Franco Miller Jr.

Devontae Shuler

Breein Tyree

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