Rebels Return to the State Capital for First Time in 11 Years

			OLE MISS (6-2, 0-0 SEC) vs. SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (4-4, 0-0 Southland) Wednesday, Dec. 12 • 6:30 PM • Jackson, Miss. Mississippi Coliseum (6,500)
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GAME 9
Matchup: Ole Miss (6-2) vs. Southeastern Louisiana (4-4)
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
Location: Jackson, Miss.
Arena: Mississippi Coliseum (6,500)
Television: SEC Network+
   Will Kollmeyer, play-by-play
   Marc Dukes, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss IMG Sports Network (XM-381)
   David Kellum, play-by-play
   John Stroud, analyst
Live Video: WatchESPN.com
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com
Series: Ole Miss leads 17-0
Last Meeting: Jan. 2, 2011
   Ole Miss won 68-59 (Oxford, Miss.)

TIPOFF TIDBITS
- The Rebels are ranked 18th in both RPIs courtesy of CBS Sports and Warren Nolan.
- Ole Miss is playing in Jackson, Mississippi for the first time in 11 seasons.
- The Rebels have played 11 neutral site games in Jackson, Mississippi dating back to 1959, holding a 7-4 record in the state capital.
- Ole Miss is seeking to win four straight games for the first time since the start of the 2016-17 season.
- The Rebels are riding a three-game winning streak, shooting over 50 percent in all three games.
- Ole Miss leads the SEC and ranks fourth nationally in free throw percentage (80.1).
- The Rebels have shot 88.9 percent (56 of 63) at the line throughout the last four games.
- All 10 Rebels that have attempted a free throw this season are shooting better than 70 percent from the stripe.
- Ole Miss is 57-3 all-time against current members of the Southland Conference.
- The Rebels will be playing their fifth game away from home, while only playing four home games to this point.
- Ole Miss is one of two SEC teams (Florida) to play five of its first nine games away from home.
- The Rebels rank second in the SEC and 32nd nationally in field goal percentage (49.1).
- Breein Tyree (18.4 ppg) leads the team in scoring and ranks third in the SEC; he is averaging 21.2 ppg over the last five games.
- Tyree has scored double figures in 14 straight games and leads the SEC in free throw shooting (84.0 percent).
- Devontae Shuler leads the SEC in playing time at 33.5 minutes per game, while ranking sixth in the conference in steals (1.9).
- A Preseason Second Team All-SEC selection by the coaches, Terence Davis ranks 31st in Ole Miss history with 1,134 career points, passing Joe Ayers in the win at Illinois State.
- 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 475 career wins, Kermit Davis ranks 140th all-time and 32nd among active Division I head coaches.

SEC LEADERS
- Ole Miss leads the SEC in free throw shooting (80.1 percent).
- The Rebels rank second in field goal percentage (49.1) and rebounding defense (allowing only 28.8 boards per game).
- Devontae Shuler leads the SEC in playing time (33.5 minutes per game).
- Breein Tyree leads the SEC in free throw shooting (84.0 percent).
- Shuler ranks sixth in steals (1.9 per game) and ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.6).
- Tyree ranks third in scoring (18.4 ppg), fourth in playing time (32.4 minutes per game) and eighth in field goal percentage (48.4).
- Terence Davis ranks ninth in assists (3.8 per game) and 10th in scoring (15.4 ppg).

REBELS IN THE RANKINGS
In the first year under head coach Kermit Davis, the Rebels are making their presence known in various ratings through the first quarter of the season. In RPI (Rating Percentage Index) by CBS Sports and Warren Nolan, Ole Miss is ranked 18th in both computations. The Rebels came in at No. 41 in the first KPI rankings, a metric the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee looks at in determining at-large berths. In the new NET, Ole Miss is 54th.

A LOOK AT THE LIONS
Southeastern Louisiana enters the midweek matchup with a 4-4 record following back-to-back victories over Louisiana College (86-71) and Tulane (62-61). It's been 11 days since the Lions beat the Green Wave to tip off the month of December. Three starters are back from last season's team that went 22-12, including 15-3 in Southland Conference play to capture the regular season league title. SLU averages 61.5 ppg with nearly half of those points coming from two Lions. Senior forward Moses Greenwood leads the way with 15.8 ppg, while fellow classmate Marlain Veal is closely behind at 14.4 ppg. The duo also pace the team in rebounds with Greenwood averaging 8.0 boards per game and Veal pulling down 5.1 per game. Southeastern Louisiana is coached by Jay Ladner, who is in his fifth season at the helm of the program.

SERIES HISTORY
Ole Miss leads the all-time series with Southeastern Louisiana 17-0. Wednesday's game will be the first neutral site battle in the series, as the Rebels hold a 15-0 advantage in Oxford along with winning a pair of games in Hammond. Ole Miss has outscored SLU by an average of 70.4-56.5 for the series. Twelve of the 17 matchups have been decided by double figures, but the last two meetings were single-digit victories by the Rebels.

LAST TIME WE MET
It's been eight seasons since the Rebels and Lions last met on the hardwood. Behind 22 points from Chris Warren, Ole Miss rebounded from a four-point halftime deficit to beat Southeastern Louisiana 68-59 in Tad Smith Coliseum (Jan. 2). Zach Graham added 14 points, while Reginald Buckner produced a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds) off the bench. Terrance Henry matched Buckner for a team high in boards, falling just two points short of his own double-double.

REBELS VS. THE SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE
Ole Miss is 57-3 all-time against the current members of the Southland Conference. Along with going 17-0 against Southeastern Louisiana throughout history, the Rebels have also faced Abilene Christian (1-0), Central Arkansas (3-0), Houston Baptist (2-0), Lamar (2-1), McNeese (8-1), New Orleans (4-1), Nicholls (9-0), Northwestern State (3-0), Sam Houston State (6-0) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2-0). Wednesday's game is the Rebels' second of two games against Southland Conference opponents this season. Ole Miss defeated Nicholls 75-55 at home earlier this season (Nov. 20).

HOOPS IN THE STATE CAPITAL
Despite playing in Jackson for the first time in 11 years and only the third trip in the last three decades, Ole Miss Basketball does have history playing in the state capital. The Rebels are 7-4 in neutral site games in Jackson, dating back to 1959 against then-No. 1 Kentucky. The last time Ole Miss played in Mississippi Coliseum, Andy Kennedy and the Rebels defeated Winthrop 76-71 (Dec. 13, 2007) en route to ending the season in the NIT Final Four. Dwayne Curtis produced an impressive double-double (22 points, 11 rebounds), and current Jacksonville Jaguars offensive lineman Jermey Parnell scored six points off the bench. Prior to that, Ed Murphy took the Rebels to Jackson in back-to-back seasons, winning the opener of the 1988-89 season against Christian Brothers (101-60) before dropping the lid lifter to Louisiana (formerly Southwest Louisiana) 94-83 the following year.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
These days, it's rare to see Power 5 teams play multiple games away from home outside of holiday tournaments. Wednesday's game in Jackson will mark the Rebels' fifth game away from the friendly confines of The Pavilion. Ole Miss joins Florida as the only two SEC teams to play five of their first nine games away from home.

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 475 career wins (409 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.

CONVERTING AT THE CHARITY STRIPE
As a team, Ole Miss leads the SEC and ranks fourth nationally in free throw percentage (80.1). All 10 Rebels that have attempted free throws this season are shooting over 70 percent from the stripe. Over the last four games, Ole Miss has shot 88.9 percent (56 of 63) at the line. In the Emerald Coast Classic 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. After going 0 for 1 in the first half at Illinois State on Saturday, the Rebels went a perfect 14 of 14 over the final 20 minutes to finish the game at 93.3 percent. Breein Tyree leads the Rebels as a 84.0 percent free throw shooter (42 of 50), topping the SEC.

REBELS RACE PAST REDBIRDS ON ROAD
Behind a combined 42 points from Breein Tyree and Terence Davis, Ole Miss took its winning ways to the road and emerged with an 81-74 victory over Illinois State Saturday night (Dec. 8). Tyree had a team-high 22 points, including 17 in the second half, for his third straight 20-point game. Davis added 20 points of his own, his third game of the season with 20 points or more. Dominik Olejniczak scored a season-high nine points on 4 of 6 shooting to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Ole Miss shot 93.3 percent from the charity stripe, including a perfect 14 of 14 in the second half that allowed the Rebels to keep the lead for over 30 minutes of game time. The Rebels didn't let the crowd at Redbird Arena phase their hot shooting as of late, shooting over 50 percent for the third straight game.

MINUTE MONSTER
Averaging 33.5 minutes per game, sophomore guard Devontae Shuler leads the SEC in playing time. He has played at least 30 minutes in six the Rebels' eight games, including a career-high 38 minutes in the win over Baylor (Nov. 23). 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 is one the veteran leaders on the floor for Ole Miss. His consistency has allowed him to become the team's leading scorer early on in the season, averaging 18.4 ppg to rank third in the SEC. He also leads in the conference in free throw percentage (84.0 percent) and ranks eighth in field goal percentage (48.4 percent). Over the last 14 games dating back to last season, Tyree has reached double figures in every contest. The Somerset, New Jersey, native is averaging 21.2 ppg through the last five games. He had the best game of his career in the semifinals of the Emerald Coast Classic (Nov. 23), 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. Facing ULM, Tyree led the Rebels once again with 20 points. He scored a game-high 22 points, including 17 in the second half, to help Ole Miss earn a hard-fought road win at Illinois State. Tyree scored eight of the team's final 10 points to put the game on ice, going a perfect 7 of 7 at the line. He also recorded team highs in rebounds (7) and assists (6), while only committing one turnover. The rebounds and assists were a season high for Tyree.

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 eight games as a starting guard, he has stuffed box scores by leading the Rebels in minutes (33.5 per game) and steals (1.9 per game), while ranking second in assists (3.3 per game) and third in rebounds (4.6 per game). Shuler is the SEC leader in playing time, while ranking sixth in steals and ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.6). In the Emerald Coast Classic versus Cincinnati (Nov. 24), 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 (Nov. 16), Shuler tallied team highs in rebounds (8), assists (5) and steals (3). In the road win at Illinois State on Saturday, he matched his career high with four steals, the third time he's accomplished the feat.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Senior Terence Davis has 1,134 points to rank 31st 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. Davis passed Terrance Henry (1,095) with a 20-point performance versus San Diego (Nov. 28) before leapfrogging Fred Cox (1,102) in the win over ULM (Dec. 1). On Saturday, he scored 20 points for the 16th time in his career and passed Joe Ayers (1,130). Next on his chase up the chart are Jack Marshall (1,137), Ken Turner (1,159) and Rahim Lockhart (1,160). John Stroud, one of this year's analyst for games on the Ole Miss IMG Sports Network (radio), is the Rebels' all-time scoring leader with 2,328 points.

NEXT ON THE HARDWOOD
Following back-to-back games away from home, Ole Miss returns to The Pavilion to host Chattanooga (Dec. 16) and close out the week. The Sunday evening matchup is set for 5 p.m. on SEC Network and can be heard on the Ole Miss IMG Sports Network.

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Players Mentioned

Terence Davis

Dominik Olejniczak

Devontae Shuler

Breein Tyree

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