Men's Hoops Hosts Chattanooga for Christmas Vacation Night

			OLE MISS (7-2, 0-0 SEC) vs. CHATTANOOGA (5-6, 0-0 SoCon) Sunday, Dec. 16 • 5 PM • Oxford, Miss. The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500) Christmas Vacation Night
Watch • Listen • Live Stats • Buy Tickets • OleMissGameday.com Ole Miss Game Notes • Chattanooga Game Notes • SEC Game Notes • Game Preview

GAME 10
Matchup: Chattanooga (5-6) vs. Ole Miss (7-2)
Date: Sunday, Dec. 16, 2018
Time: 5 p.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Arena: The Pavilion (9,500)
Television: SEC Network
   Kevin Fitzgerald, play-by-play
   Sean Harrington, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss IMG Sports Network (XM-190)
   David Kellum, play-by-play
   Sean Tuohy, analyst
Live Video: WatchESPN.com
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com
Series: Ole Miss leads 3-2
Last Meeting: Dec. 20, 1985
   Chattanooga won 89-78
   (Birmingham, Ala.)

TIPOFF TIDBITS
- Ole Miss is playing its final home game before the holiday break, and it's Christmas Vacation Night at The Pavilion.
- Chattanooga and Ole Miss are squaring off in Oxford for the first time since Dec. 7, 1959.
- The Rebels have won four straight games for the first time since the start of the 2016-17 season; another win would give Ole Miss its first five-game winning streak since closing out the 2015 calendar year with seven consecutive wins.
- Ole Miss has shot over 50 percent in five games this year, already matching its mark from all of last season.
- The Rebels are one of three teams to rank top 30 nationally in both field goal percentage (49.5) and free throw percentage (78.6).
- Ole Miss leads the SEC in free throw shooting and field goal percentage, ranking sixth and 26th in the country, respectively.
- Eight of the 10 Rebels that have attempted a free throw this season are shooting better than 70 percent from the stripe.
- Breein Tyree (16.7 ppg) leads the team in scoring and ranks sixth in the SEC; he has scored at least 20 points in four of the past six games.
- Tyree leads the SEC in free throw shooting (84.0 percent).
- Devontae Shuler leads the SEC in playing time at 33.3 minutes per game, while ranking sixth in the conference in steals (1.8) and seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.7).
- A Preseason Second Team All-SEC selection by the coaches, Terence Davis ranks 30th in Ole Miss history with 1,149 career points, passing Jack Marshall in the win versus Southeastern Louisiana.
- Kermit Davis, a native of Leakesville, Mississippi, is in his first year at Ole Miss after spending the past 16 seasons at Middle Tennessee and becoming the winningest coach in school history as well as Sun Belt Conference history.
- With 476 career wins, Kermit Davis ranks 141st all-time and 32nd among active Division I head coaches.
- Kermit Davis celebrated his 59th birthday on Friday.

SEC LEADERS
- Ole Miss leads the SEC in field goal percentage (49.5) and free throw shooting (78.6 percent).
- The Rebels rank second in rebounding defense, allowing only 28.1 boards per game.
- Devontae Shuler leads the SEC in playing time (33.3 minutes per game).
- Breein Tyree leads the SEC in free throw shooting (84.0 percent).
- Shuler ranks sixth in steals (1.8 per game) and seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.7).
- Tyree ranks sixth in scoring (16.7 ppg), third in playing time (32.6 minutes per game) and 10th in field goal percentage (46.9).
- Terence Davis ranks ninth in assists (3.8 per game) and 10th in scoring (15.3 ppg).

YOU SERIOUS, CLARK?
As the SEC's leader in field goal percentage (49.5) and free throw percentage (78.6), Ole Miss is one of three teams to rank top 30 nationally in both categories. The Rebels are the nation's sixth-best free throw shooting team, while ranking 26th in field goal percentage. Northern Colorado and South Dakota State are the only other two teams in the top 30 of both statistics.

SCOUTING COUSIN EDDIE'S MOCS
Chattanooga enters Sunday's matchup with a 5-6 record following a 95-88 midweek loss at Georgia State. The loss snapped the Mocs' three-game winning streak. Chattanooga likes to shoot from long range, ranking 23rd nationally in 3-point attempts (284) and 31st in threes made (99). Freshman forward Kevin Easley has made an immediate impact for the Mocs, leading the team in scoring at 15.8 ppg and ranking second in rebounds (6.1 per game). Jerry Johnson Jr. follows Easley with 11.7 ppg, while also pacing Chattanooga in threes made (23), assists (2.5 per game) and steals (1.4 per game). Lamont Paris is in his second season as head coach of the Mocs.

SERIES HISTORY
Ole Miss leads the all-time series with Chattanooga 3-2. The two teams first met in 1947, and the Rebels swept the home-and-home series that year. The 1959-60 series was split with each team winning on their home floor. Ole Miss and Chattanooga were matched up in the 1985 UAB Classic, a game won by Chattanooga, and that's the last time the two schools squared off.

LAST TIME WE MET
It's been 33 years since Ole Miss and Chattanooga last met on the hardwood. The two teams squared off in the UAB Classic in Birmingham, Alabama (Dec. 20, 1985). Five Rebels scored in double figures, including 14 apiece from Curtis Rickwood and Eric Smith, and Ole Miss shot 50 percent from the field. However, it wasn't enough as Chattanooga came away with the 89-78 victory behind 23 points from Lance Fulse. Chattanooga got to the line often in the contest, knocking down 35 of 42 from the stripe.

REBELS VS. THE SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
Ole Miss is 26-10 all-time against the current members of the Southern Conference. Along with going 3-2 against Chattanooga throughout history, the Rebels have also faced East Tennessee State (9-5), Furman (4-2), Mercer (5-1), Samford (3-0), VMI (1-0) and Western Carolina (1-0).

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 the RPI (Rating Percentage Index) by Warren Nolan, Ole Miss is ranked 22nd. The Rebels came in at No. 46 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 52nd. ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi has the Rebels on the bubble as one of his first four teams on the outside of the NCAA Tournament.

HOOPS IN THE STATE CAPITAL
Playing in the state capital for the first time in 11 years Wednesday night, Ole Miss made sure it was a victorious return to Mississippi Coliseum with a 69-47 win over Southeastern Louisiana. The Rebels won their fourth straight game behind their best defensive performance in four seasons. Limiting the Lions to 47 points, Ole Miss allowed its fewest number of points since the 2014-15 campaign (Jan. 31, 2015 vs. Missouri). On the offensive side of the floor, the Rebels shot over 50 percent for the fourth consecutive contest. Behind 7 of 10 shooting from sophomore Devontae Shuler, Ole Miss converted 28 of 53 (52.8 percent) from the field. Shuler scored a team-high 19 points in the wire-to-wire victory with 14 of them coming in the first half. Terence Davis added 15 points, while Blake Hinson and Dominik Olejniczak contributed nine points apiece.

I DON'T KNOW, MARGO!
Did you know that the Rebels have won four consecutive games for the first time since the start of the 2016-17 season? During this stretch, Ole Miss has shot over 50 percent in each game to bring the season total to five. The Rebels eclipsed 50 percent from the field in five games throughout the entire 2017-18 season.

JELLY OF THE MONTH CLUB
The Rebels are 3-0 in the month of December for the first time since 2015 and only the second time in the last seven seasons. Ole Miss closed out the 2015 calendar year with a perfect 5-0 mark during the final month.

THAT THERE'S AN RV
These days, it's rare to see Power 5 teams play multiple games on the road outside of holiday tournaments. Wednesday's game in Jackson marked the Rebels' fifth game away from the friendly confines of The Pavilion. Ole Miss joined Florida as the only two SEC teams to play five of their first nine games away from home.

MADE PRETTY GOOD TIME
Averaging 33.3 minutes per game, sophomore guard Devontae Shuler leads the SEC in playing time. He has played at least 30 minutes in seven the Rebels' nine 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).

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 476 career wins (410 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.

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING THE WHOLE YEAR
As a team, Ole Miss leads the SEC and ranks fourth nationally in free throw percentage (80.1). Eight of the 10 Rebels that have attempted free throws this season are shooting over 70 percent from the stripe. Over the last five games, Ole Miss has shot 84.0 percent (63 of 75) 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 last week, 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.

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 16.7 ppg to rank sixth in the SEC. He also leads in the conference in free throw percentage (84.0 percent) and ranks 10th in field goal percentage (46.9 percent). Tyree has scored at least 20 points in four of the last six 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 (Nov. 24) before tallying a team-high 22 points against San Diego (Nov. 28). Facing ULM (Dec. 1), 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 (Dec. 8). 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 nine games as a starting guard, he has stuffed box scores by leading the Rebels in minutes (33.3 per game) and steals (1.8 per game), while ranking second in assists (3.2 per game). Shuler is the SEC leader in playing time, while ranking sixth in steals and seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.7). 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. 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. On Wednesday, he scored a team-high 19 points to lead the Rebels to a win over Southeastern Louisiana.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Senior Terence Davis has 1,149 points to rank 30th in Ole Miss history. He is on pace to land inside 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). Against Illinois State, he scored 20 points for the 16th time in his career and passed Joe Ayers (1,130). With 15 points in Jackson Wednesday, Davis jumped Jack Marshall (1,137) to crack the top 30. Next on his chase up the chart are 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
The Rebels only have two games left in the month of December. Next Friday (Dec. 21), Ole Miss travels to the Music City to face their head coach's former team, Middle Tennessee. Tipoff from Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville is set for 7 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network's Facebook page. Following the holiday break, the Rebels close out the 2018 calendar year by hosting Florida Gulf Coast (Dec. 29). The Saturday afternoon non-conference matchup will begin at 1 p.m. CT. from The Pavilion.

RebelsCalendar

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Terence Davis

Blake Hinson

Dominik Olejniczak

Devontae Shuler

Breein Tyree

The University of Mississippi Athletics