Ole Miss Hoops Hosts Seattle Tuesday to End Season-Opening Homestand

			OLE MISS (3-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. SEATTLE (2-3, 0-0 WAC) Tuesday, November 19 • 6:30 PM • Oxford, Miss. The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500)
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GAME 4
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Arena: The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500)
Television: SEC Network+
   Seth Austin, play-by-play
   John Stroud, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss Sports Network (Sirius/XM Internet - 973)
   David Kellum, play-by-play
   Marc Dukes analyst
Live Video: ESPN.com/ESPN app
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com/TuneIn app
Series: First Meeting

PROMOTIONS
Batman Night at The Pavilion - Ole Miss capes to the first 500 fans

TIPOFF TIDBITS
- Ole Miss is receiving votes in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.
- Seattle is one of three 2019-20 opponents that Ole Miss has never faced throughout its 110 seasons of college basketball.
- Tuesday's matchup is a campus game part of the NIT Tip-Off.
- Ole Miss is wrapping up a four-game homestand to start the season.
- The Rebels are 14-5 (.737) at home under Kermit Davis.
- Ole Miss is coming off an 85-58 win over Western Michigan, also a NIT Tip-Off campus contest.
- Newcomers Sammy Hunter and Khadim Sy tallied eight points apiece, career highs, in the win over WMU.
- Ole Miss leads the SEC with 12.0 steals per game, ranking 10th nationally.
- The Rebels rank sixth in the country in scoring defense, allowing only 52.0 points per game. The 156 points are the program's fewest allowed over the first three games of the season since the 2011-12 campaign (136 points) and the fifth fewest over the past 70 years.
- The veteran trio of Devontae Shuler (16.0 ppg), Breein Tyree (15.7 ppg) and KJ Buffen (14.7 ppg) has accounted for 62.1 percent of the Rebels' scoring this season; Ole Miss is the only team to have three players ranked in the SEC's top 20 in scoring.
- Sophomore KJ Buffen is shooting 76.2 percent from the floor to rank seventh in the nation.
- Devontae Shuler leads Ole Miss in scoring (16.0 ppg), the only Rebel to reach double figures in all three games.
- Ole Miss has dominated the paint over the first three games of the season, outscoring the opposition 37.3-19.3 per game in the area.
- Breein Tyree is the SEC's leading active scorer with 1,234 career points, which also ranks 26th in Ole Miss history.
- Ole Miss is one of only 27 teams to have one senior or less; the Rebels also have the fifth-most freshmen on a roster in the country, one of eight programs to have at least seven freshmen.
- Breein Tyree is one of 20 guards named to the Jerry West Award Watch List (shooting guard of the year).

SEC LEADERS
- Ole Miss leads the SEC in steals per game (12.0).
- KJ Buffen ranks second in field goal percentage (76.2), Devontae Shuler ranks eighth (54.5)
- Shuler and Breein Tyree rank fifth in the SEC averaging 2.3 steals per game.
- Buffen ranks sixth in rebounding (8.0 per game).
- Shuler ranks ninth in threes made per game (2.0), while Tyree sits ninth in assist/turnover ratio (2.0).

LOCKDOWN DEFENSE IN THE NATIONAL RANKS
- Ole Miss has the sixth-best scoring defense in the country, allowing only 52.0 ppg.
- The Rebels rank 10th in the country, averaging 12.0 steals per game.
- Ole Miss ranks 10th nationally in field goal percentage defense (33.1).
- The Rebels rank 11th in three-point field goal percentage defense (22.2).

SCOUTING SEATTLE
The Redhawks enter Tuesday's contest following an 89-67 loss at Syracuse in another NIT campus game (Nov. 16). Seattle is 2-3 on the season but 0-2 on the road with losses to the Orange and Washington State (Nov. 7). Similar to the Rebels' last opponent, Western Michigan, the Redhawks have been successful in getting to the free throw line. Seattle ranks second in the country in free throws made (98), while also fourth in free throw attempts (125). Their 78.4 percentage from the charity stripe ranks 33rd nationally. Despite the Redhawks' success at the free throw line, they are only shooting 22.9 percent from three-point land. Individually, senior forward Myles Carter is an 86.2 percent free throw shooter, knocking down 25 of his 29 free throws for the fifth-most of any player in the nation. While Carter averages 15.0 ppg, junior guard Terrell Brown leads the Redhawks in scoring at 22.6 ppg. Taking 95 shots this season, Brown has the most field goal attempts nationwide. Brown also leads the team in assists (4.8 per game) and rebounds (8.0 per game). Jim Hayford is his third season as Seattle's head coach after spending six years leading Eastern Washington. Hayford has 400 career wins over 20 seasons as a head coach.

FROM MACTION TO WACTION
After facing Mid-American Conference (MAC) foe Western Michigan Friday night (Nov. 15), the Rebels now square off against Seattle out of the Western Athletics Conference (WAC). Ole Miss has never faced any of the current nine teams in the WAC: California Baptist, Chicago State, CSU Bakersfield, Grand Canyon, New Mexico State, Seattle, UMKC, UT Rio Grande Valley and Utah Valley

FIRST MEETINGS
Seattle is one of three teams that Ole Miss will be facing for the first time this season. The Rebels faced Norfolk State for the first time ever last week (Nov. 12). Ole Miss will also battle CSU Bakersfield for the first time in the program's 110 years of college basketball later this season (Dec. 7).

NIT TIP-OFF MATCHUP
Tuesday's contest is a campus game for the NIT Tip-Off, the second straight such contest for the Rebels after downing Western Michigan 85-58 Friday night (Nov. 15). Ole Miss plays two campus games and then heads to Brooklyn, New York for the main portion of the tournament. Playing at the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets, Ole Miss will battle Penn State (Nov. 27) before facing either Oklahoma State or Syracuse (Nov. 29). The last time the Rebels competed in the NIT Tip-Off, they captured the 2013 title with wins over Georgia Tech and Penn State.

HISTORIC START DEFENSIVELY
Ole Miss' scoring defense (52.0 ppg) ranks sixth in the country, and it is also one of the best to ever start a season in program history. The 156 points are the fifth-fewest allowed over the first three games of an Ole Miss season over the past 70 years. Also, the Rebels have held each of their first three opponents under 60 points for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

Points Allowed Through First 3 Games	Season
136	2011-12
136	1950-51
146	1949-50
155	1998-99
156	2019-20
156	1996-97

THREE-HEADED MONSTER
While several newcomers have made immediate impacts to expand Ole Miss' depth, the Rebels are led by a veteran trio. Junior guard Devontae Shuler (16.0 ppg), senior guard Breein Tyree (15.7 ppg) and sophomore forward KJ Buffen (14.7 ppg) have accounted for 62.1 percent of the team's scoring this season. All three Rebels are ranked in the SEC's top 20 in scoring, making Ole Miss the only school to have three players in the top 20 of that category. Shuler has reached double figures in all three games, while Tyree has recorded back-to-back 20-point games. Buffen is the team's leading rebounder, while Shuler and Tyree tie for fifth in the SEC with 2.3 steals per game.

REBELS DOMINATE THE PAINT TO THUMP BRONCOS
Controlling the paint and using a stifling 1-3-1 zone defense, Ole Miss brushed off a slow start to rumble past Western Michigan 85-58 at The Pavilion (Nov. 15). The Rebels handed the Broncos their first loss of the season by holding a 44-24 advantage in the paint and forcing 19 turnovers. Breein Tyree scored a team-high 20 points for his second consecutive 20-point game, while adding four rebounds and three steals. His backcourt mate Devontae Shuler was close behind, tallying 16 points along with a career-high three blocks on the other end of the floor. Sophomore Luis Rodriguez reached double figures for the first time in his young career with 10 points and a team-best six rebounds. Newcomers Sammy Hunter and Khadim Sy added eight points apiece, the most they've scored as Rebels. Once again, Ole Miss shot over 50 percent, going 32 of 61 from the floor (52.5 percent). The Rebels limited Western Michigan to a 33.9 percent (20 of 59) clip, including just 5 of 32 (15.6 percent) from beyond the arc. Coming into the game averaging 25.3 ppg, Preseason First Team All-MAC guard Michael Flowers was held to only 14 points on 4 of 15 shooting (1 of 9 from three).

BUFFEN BREAKS OUT
KJ Buffen was a primary bench player during his freshman campaign, but the 6-foot-7 forward is to off to superb start to his sophomore season. Starting all three games, already surpassing his amount of starts as a freshman (2), Buffen is averaging 14.7 ppg along with a team-best 8.0 rpg. The Gainesville, Georgia, native is shooting lights out from the field as his 76.2 field goal percentage ranks second in the SEC and seventh in the nation. His 8.0 rebounding average is sixth in the conference. Buffen tallied a career-high 23 points in last week's win over Norfolk State (Nov. 12). After averaging only 6.0 ppg and 4.4 rpg in his first season as a Rebel, Buffen has emerged as one of the team's best players to begin the 2019-20 season.

CLIMBING THE CAREER CHARTS
In his final year as a Rebel, senior guard Breein Tyree ranks 26th on the all-time scoring list with 1,234 points. That career output leads all active players in the SEC. The Somerset, New Jersey, native scored 20 points in the win over Western Michigan (Nov. 15) to pass Walter Actwood (1,216) and Dwayne Curtis (1,232) on the all-time scoring list. Next on the list is B.L. "Country" Graham (1,259). If he matches his scoring output from a season ago, he'll end his career in the top 10. Through 102 games in an Ole Miss uniform, Tyree has knocked down 147 three-pointers to sit 11th in the program's rankings.

DEFENDING HOME COURT
Winning at home has been a trademark at Ole Miss. Over the past 14 seasons, the Rebels are 157-47 (.770 win pct.) in home games. In four-plus seasons (opened January 2016) playing in the $96.5 million Pavilion at Ole Miss, the Rebels hold a 44-21 (.677) advantage against the opposition. Ole Miss has won 282 of its last 361 games (.781 win pct.) in Oxford dating back to the 1996-97 campaign. Under second year head coach Kermit Davis, the Rebels are 14-5 (.737 win pct.) at home.

YEAR TWO OF THE DAVIS ERA
Kermit Davis is in his second season at the helm of Ole Miss Basketball. A nine-time conference coach of the year, Davis is 38th among active Division I head coaches with 426 career wins over 22 seasons, including stints at MT, Idaho and Texas A&M. In 25 seasons as a college basketball head coach, he has amassed 492 wins. Davis wasted no time making an impact in Oxford. With the Rebels coming off a last-place finish in 2017-18, the media picked Ole Miss to land at the bottom of the SEC standings again in 2018-19. However, the Rebels posted a 20-13 record to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years. With a return to March Madness for the sixth time in his career, Davis joined a list of 63 coaches in college basketball history to take three different schools to the NCAA Tournament. Davis was named SEC Coach of the Year by his peers and the Associated Press, earning conference coach of the year accolades for the ninth time in his career. He became the sixth Ole Miss coach to earn SEC Coach of the Year honors, while joining Andy Kennedy as the only Rebel coaches to collect the award in their first year in Oxford.

TYREE LEADS THE WAY
After earning First Team All-SEC accolades and leading Ole Miss back to the NCAA Tournament a season ago, Breein Tyree earned several preseason accolades as a senior. Along with being named Preseason First Team All-SEC, the Rebel is one of 20 guards nationwide to be selected to the Jerry West Award Watch List (shooting guard of the year). Sporting News also tabbed him a Preseason Third Team All-American. The SEC's leading returning scorer heading into the season, Tyree averaged 17.9 ppg as a junior to rank third in the conference. He bumped his scoring average to 19.1 ppg in conference play, increasing his output from non-conference to SEC action for the third consecutive year. Last season, Tyree was the only player in the SEC to rank in the conference's top 10 in scoring (3rd-17.9 ppg), free throw percentage (3rd-83.1), three-pointers made (7th-2.1 per game) and field goal percentage (10th-45.9).

SHULER TABBED PRESEASON SECOND TEAM ALL-SEC
While Breein Tyree was tabbed Preseason First Team All-SEC, the conference coaches named Devontae Shuler Preseason Second Team All-SEC. Ole Miss was one of five schools to have multiple selections, joining Florida, Kentucky, LSU and Tennessee. Shuler had a breakout sophomore season under first year head coach Kermit Davis. Making the transition to point guard, he averaged 10.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg and 3.0 apg (second on team). The Irmo, South Carolina, native ranked sixth in the SEC with 1.7 steals per game and eighth in assist/turnover ratio (1.7). His 56 steals were the most ever by an Ole Miss sophomore, the seventh-most by any Rebel in a single season. Shuler had one of the nation's biggest increases in three-point field goal percentage, going from a 25.9 percent clip as a freshman to a team-best 40.2 percent a season ago. He also knocked down 82.3 percent (51 of 62) of his free throw attempts.

YOUNG SQUAD
With Breein Tyree as the lone senior, Ole Miss is one of 27 teams in the country to have either one or zero seniors on the roster. In contrast, the Rebels have the fifth-most freshmen on a Division I roster. Ole Miss is one of only eight teams nationwide to have at least seven freshmen.

School	Number of Freshmen
Navy	11
Utah	11
Air Force	10
TCU	10
Ole Miss	7
James Madison	7
LMU	7
Nebraska	7

PACK THE PAVILION
After a new average attendance record (7,816) was broken during the 2018-19 campaign, a 13 percent increase from the previous season, another record was set this season with 5,100 season ticket holders and counting. Last season, the Rebels had the highest increased home attendance in the SEC for conference games (23.75 percent). For SEC games, the 8,791 average attendance was up significantly from the 7,104 average during the 2017-18 campaign. Five sellouts in 2018-19 also broke another Pavilion record. The Pavilion has nine sellouts in its history (opened in January 2016).

TD TO THE NBA
The Rebels are without Second Team All-SEC guard Terence Davis, who finished his career ranked 12th on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,512 points. After going undrafted, Davis turned heads in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and quickly earned a multi-year deal with the reigning champion Toronto Raptors. Davis has become a regular in the Raptors' rotation to start the NBA season. The Southaven, Mississippi, native matched LeBron James with 13 points in the Raptors' win over the Lakers (Nov. 10). Last week (Nov. 13), Davis recorded NBA career highs in points (15), rebounds (6) and minutes (31) to help Toronto take down the Portland Trail Blazers on the road.

MATTHEW MURRELL BECOMES A REBEL
Ole Miss Basketball made a major splash on the first day of the early signing period (Nov. 13), inking the highest ranked recruit in program history. Matthew Murrell, a consensus top-50 prospect in the national recruiting rankings, signed his National Letter of Intent Nov. 13 to join the Rebels for the 2020-21 season. Murrell, a four-star prospect, finds himself rated top 50 nationally by the major recruiting rankings. The combo guard is ranked as high as No. 45 by 247Sports. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Murrell played his first three seasons of high school basketball at Whitehaven High School. As a senior, he moved down to Bradenton, Florida to join defending national champions IMG Academy. ESPN ranks Murrell as the No. 2 player in the state.

NEXT ON THE HARDWOOD
With the four-game homestand coming to a close, the Rebels will hit the road for the first time this season Saturday (Nov. 23). Ole Miss travels up the road to renew the rivalry with No. 16 Memphis at FedEx Forum. Tipoff is slated for 12 p.m. CT on ESPN3.

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Players Mentioned

KJ Buffen

Terence Davis

Sammy Hunter

Luis Rodriguez

Devontae Shuler

Khadim Sy

Breein Tyree

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