Men's Hoops Travels to Memphis Saturday to Battle No. 16 Tigers

			OLE MISS (4-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. #16/20 MEMPHIS (4-1, 0-0 AAC) Saturday, November 23 • 12 PM • Memphis, Tenn. FedExForum (18,400)
Watch • Listen • Live Stats • Buy Tickets Ole Miss Game Notes (PDF) • Memphis Game Notes (PDF) • SEC Game Notes (PDF)

GAME 5
Date: Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019
Time: 12 p.m. CT
Location: Memphis, Tenn.
Arena: FedExForum (18,400)
Television: ESPN3
   Greg Gaston, play-by-play
   Jon Albright, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss Sports Network (XM-392, Sirius/XM Internet - 992)
   David Kellum, play-by-play
   Marc Dukes analyst
Live Video: ESPN.com/ESPN app
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com/TuneIn app
Series: Memphis leads 27-14
Last Meeting: Ole Miss won 85-77
   Dec. 3, 2016
   Oxford, Miss.

TIPOFF TIDBITS
- The Rebels have kept each of their first four opponents under 60 points for the first time since the 1944-45 season.
- Ole Miss ranks sixth in the country in scoring defense, allowing only 52.0 points per game. The 208 points are the program's fewest allowed over the first three games of the season since the 1998-99 campaign (200 points) and the fifth fewest over the past 70 years.
- The Rebels have won three straight matchups with Memphis.
- Ole Miss is receiving votes in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.
- The Rebels hit the road for the first time this season after winning all four games of the season-opening homestand.
- Ole Miss leads the SEC in field goal percentage defense (31.9), ranking fourth nationally.
- Sophomore KJ Buffen is shooting 71.0 percent from the floor to lead the SEC and rank 10th in the nation.
- The veteran trio of Breein Tyree (14.3 ppg), KJ Buffen (14.3 ppg) and Devontae Shuler (13.5 ppg) has accounted for 58.1 percent of the Rebels' scoring this season.
- Breein Tyree is the SEC's leading active scorer with 1,244 career points, which also ranks 26th in Ole Miss history.
- Breein Tyree made his first career start as a Rebel against Memphis, making the first shot of the game in an 85-77 win the last time the two teams met (Dec. 3, 2016 in Oxford).
- 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.
- Kermit Davis is in his 25th season as a collegiate head coach, including 22nd in NCAA Division I.
- On the first day of the early signing period last week (Nov. 13), Ole Miss signed top-50 prospect and Memphis native Matthew Murrell, the highest ranked recruit in program history.
- The Rebels begin a stretch of three straight games away from home.
- Keith Carter, an All-American for the Rebels in the late 1990s, was named Ole Miss Athletics Director on Friday.

SEC LEADERS
- Ole Miss leads the SEC in field goal percentage defense (31.9).
- The Rebels rank second in the conference in scoring defense (52.0 ppg), steals per game (10.8) and three-point field goal percentage defense (22.5).
- KJ Buffen leads the SEC in field goal percentage (71.0).
- Devontae Shuler ranks fourth in the SEC averaging 2.3 steals per game.
- Buffen ranks fifth in rebounding (8.0 per game).
- Breein Tyree ranks fifth in assist/turnover ratio (2.5).

LOCKDOWN DEFENSE IN THE NATIONAL RANKS
- The Rebels rank fourth nationally in field goal percentage defense (31.9).
- Ole Miss has the sixth-best scoring defense in the country, allowing only 52.0 ppg.
- The Rebels rank eighth in three-point field goal percentage defense (22.5).

SCOUTING MEMPHIS
Memphis enters Saturday's contest with a 4-1 record, winning all four games at FedExForum and dropping its lone game away from home. The Tigers fell 82-74 to Oregon in Portland (Nov. 12) before rattling off back-to-back wins over Alcorn State (102-56) and Little Rock (68-58). Memphis has outscored the opposition by 25.4 ppg, while averaging 6.4 blocks per game. Both marks rank 14th in the nation. Four Tigers average double figures led by James Wiseman (19.7 ppg), who is out until January. Precious Achiuwa (13.0 ppg), D.J. Jeffries (12.2 ppg) and Lester Quinones (12.0 ppg) round out balanced scoring for Memphis. Achiuwa ranks sixth in the nation with 36 free throw attempts on the season, but the freshman forward averaging just 47.2 percent from the line. Penny Hardaway is in his second season as head coach of the Tigers, returning to his alma mater after coaching Memphis East High School. The former Memphis guard was a two-time All-American before becoming a four-time NBA All-Star for the Orlando Magic.

RIVALRY RENEWED
Memphis is the closest Division I school to Ole Miss as 85 miles separate the two universities. The Tigers lead the all-time series 27-14, but the Rebels have won the last three meetings. Memphis earned a 23-11 victory in 1910 to tip off the series, and after another win in 1923, Ole Miss rattled off five consecutive wins. Four years ago, the two teams scheduled a home-and-home in back-to-back seasons. The Rebels went into FedExForum and beat Memphis 85-79 in 2015 before sweeping the series with a win in Oxford one year later.

LAST TIME WE MET
In the last matchup between the two programs, the Rebels protected their home court with an 85-77 victory (Dec. 3, 2016) behind Stefan Moody (21 points) and a huge double-double by Sebastian Saiz (20 points and 16 rebounds). Ole Miss rebounded from a home loss to Middle Tennessee, coached by Kermit Davis at the time. Breein Tyree, Marcanvis Hymon, and Terence Davis made their first starts of the season along with the familiar faces of Saiz and Deandre Burnett. On the first possession of the game, Tyree opened up the scoring in his first collegiate start by hitting a shot from beyond the arc. Ole Miss never trailed in the first half. Just under the eight-minute mark of the second half, Memphis grabbed a five-point lead. The lead was Memphis' largest of the contest, and the game seemed to be slipping away from the Rebels despite leading for nearly the entire contest up to that point. Ole Miss responded in a big way. The Rebels scored 20 of the next 23 points, capped by a Cullen Neal 3-pointer to get the lead to 81-69. During the five-minute run, Ole Miss limited Memphis to just one field goal. Ole Miss' lead never shrunk smaller than six points over the final three minutes to close out the win.

FACING THE AAC
Memphis is the first of two American Athletic Conference (AAC) teams that Ole Miss will face this season, both on the road. The Rebels will face Wichita State in their first game of the new decade (Jan. 4). Ole Miss is 64-97 all-time against current members of the AAC having faced each of the 12 teams. Along with a 14-27 record against Memphis as well as a 3-2 mark versus Wichita State, the Rebels have squared off against Cincinnati (1-2), East Carolina (1-1), Houston (2-1), SMU (2-1), South Florida (1-0), Temple (1-3), Tulane (35-55), Tulsa (1-4), UCF (3-0) and UConn (0-1). Ole Miss last battled an AAC team almost exactly one year ago, falling to Cincinnati in the 2018 Emerald Coast Classic championship game.

OLE MISS-MEMPHIS CONNECTIONS
- Freshman forward Antavion Collum hails from Memphis. Collum attended Bartlett High School as a senior, but played under Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway as a freshman and sophomore at Memphis East High School.
- Redshirt freshman John McBride is from Memphis and spent his high school years at Memphis University School.
- Memphis assistant coach Tony Madlock spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Ole Miss under Andy Kennedy (2015-18). Madlock also served as the Rebels' interim head coach for the final five games of the 2017-18 season.
- Matthew Murrell, a consensus top-50 prospect that signed his National Letter of Intent with Ole Miss (Nov. 13), is from Memphis. Murrell is the highest rated recruit in Ole Miss Basketball history.

BLAKE IS BACK
Sophomore Blake Hinson is expected to make his 2019-20 season debut after missing the first four games due to a blood abnormality discovered during the offseason. The Deltona, Florida, native will provide experience after starting 31 games as freshman (third most by an Ole Miss freshman over the past two decades). In his first year as a Rebel, Hinson averaged 8.3 ppg and 2.9 rpg. He reached double figures in 10 games and shot 40.6 percent from the floor. His 26 points in last season's win at No. 14 Mississippi State was the most by an Ole Miss freshman since 2011.

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 Rebels have held each of their first four opponents below 60 points, a feat last accomplished to start the 1944-45 season. During that season, Ole Miss began the season 4-0 by allowing only 30.8 ppg. The 208 points are the fifth-fewest allowed over the first four games of an Ole Miss season over the past 70 years.

Points Allowed Through First 4 Games	Season
197	1950-51
200	1998-99
200	1981-82
205	1947-48
208	2019-20

THREE-HEADED MONSTER
While several newcomers have made immediate impacts to expand Ole Miss' depth, the Rebels are led by a veteran trio. Sophomore forward KJ Buffen (14.3 ppg), senior guard Breein Tyree (14.3 ppg) and junior guard Devontae Shuler (13.5 ppg) have accounted for 58.1 percent of the team's scoring this season. Buffen is the team's leading rebounder, while Tyree boasts a 2.5 assist/turnover ratio to rank fifth in the SEC. All three Rebels rank top 10 in the conference in steals. Shuler leads the way, averaging 2.3 per game (4th) with Buffen and Tyree in seventh at 2.0 apiece per game.

PAVILION PROTECTED
The Rebels protected their home to begin the season, winning all four games inside The Pavilion at Ole Miss in comfortable fashion. Ole Miss outscored the visitors by an average of 20.3 ppg, while holding them to a 31.9 field goal percentage and 52.0 ppg. The field goal percentage defense leads the SEC and ranks fourth nationally to go along with the country sixth-best scoring defense. The Rebels improved to 15-5 at home during the Kermit Davis era.

FORMER REBEL BASKETBALL ALL-AMERICAN KEITH CARTER NAMED OLE MISS ATHLETICS DIRECTOR
Rebel Basketball now has one of its own leading the Ole Miss Athletic Department. Keith Carter was named as the new Ole Miss Athletics Director (Nov. 22), 20 years after leading Ole Miss Basketball to the top of the Southeastern Conference. A four-year starter at Ole Miss, Carter helped the Rebels to a pair of SEC Western Division titles in 1997 and 1998 and earned All-America honors after his senior season in 1999. The four-year starter received All-SEC first and second team honors in 1998 and 1999. His 1,682 career points ranks seventh all-time, and his 249 three-pointers set a school record at the time and still ranks fourth in the Rebel record book. He also won a gold medal as a member of the U.S. national team at the 1998 Goodwill Games and played professional basketball in Italy from 2001 until 2008. Following his playing career, Carter returned to his alma mater to work for the University Foundation before moving to the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation.

REBELS ROLL PAST REDHAWKS
Ole Miss led for almost the entire game and ended its season-opening homestand with a 65-52 victory over Seattle Tuesday night (Nov. 19). The Rebels built up their lead to as much as 28 points in the second half, while holding the Redhawks to a 28.6 percent (16 of 56) clip from the field. KJ Buffen scored 11 of his team-high 13 points in the second half after picking up early foul trouble in the first 11 minutes of the contest. The sophomore forward also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds to go along with a pair of steals. Breein Tyree stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists to get the Rebels rolling in the first half and continuing into the final frame. Fellow guard Bryce Williams added a career-high eight points in 22 minutes off the bench. Making the most of their opportunities at the charity stripe, the Rebels went 19 of 22 (86.4%) on their free throws.

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 four games, already surpassing his amount of starts as a freshman (2), Buffen is averaging 14.3 ppg along with a team-best 8.0 rpg. The Gainesville, Georgia, native is shooting lights out from the field as his 71.0 field goal percentage leads the SEC and ranks 10th in the nation. His 8.0 rebounding average is fifth 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 1,244 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 103 games in an Ole Miss uniform, Tyree has knocked down 147 three-pointers to sit 11th in the program's rankings.

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 427 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 493 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

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). This week (Nov. 19), Davis recorded NBA career highs in points (19) and rebounds (8) to help Toronto take down the Orlando Magic at home.

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
Up next, Ole Miss heads to Brooklyn to compete in the NIT Tip-Off. The Rebels begin the tournament against Penn State. Tipoff from the Barclays Center is set for 4 p.m. CT on ESPN2. After enjoying Thanksgiving, Ole Miss will face either Syracuse or Oklahoma State on Friday. (Nov. 29).

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Players Mentioned

KJ Buffen

Antavion Collum

Terence Davis

Blake Hinson

John McBride

Devontae Shuler

Breein Tyree

Bryce Williams

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