Men's Hoops Hosts Arkansas State Friday to Open 2019-20 Season

			OLE MISS (0-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. ARKANSAS STATE (1-0, 0-0 Sun Belt) Friday, November 8 • 6 PM • Oxford, Miss. The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500)
Watch • Listen • Live Stats • Buy Tickets • OleMissGameday.com • Game Preview Ole Miss Game Notes (PDF) • Arkansas State Game Notes (PDF) • SEC Game Notes (PDF)

GAME 1
Date: Friday, Nov. 8, 2019
Time: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Arena: The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500)
Television: SEC Network+
   Richard Cross, play-by-play
   John Stroud, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss Sports Network (Sirius/XM Internet-970)
   David Kellum, play-by-play
   Marc Dukes, analyst
Live Video: ESPN.com/ESPN App
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com/TuneIn App
Series: Ole Miss leads 21-9
Last Meeting: Ole Miss won 68-60
   Nov. 12, 2010
   Oxford, Miss.

TIPOFF TIDBITS
- Ole Miss opens its 110th season of basketball, including the 13th straight at home.
- The Rebels are 14-1 in season openers over the past 15 seasons.
- Ole Miss begins the second season under head coach Kermit Davis, the 2019 SEC Coach of the Year.
- The Rebels are one of only two SEC teams yet to start the season (LSU).
- The media predicted the Rebels to finish eighth in the SEC; Ole Miss as finished higher than the preseason projection in seven of the last eight seasons.
- The Rebels and Red Wolves last met nine years ago, tipping off the 2010-11 season.
- Ole Miss is coming off a 69-43 exhibition win over Mississippi College (Nov. 4).
- The Rebels are one of five SEC schools to have multiple Preseason All-SEC honorees (Breein Tyree - First Team, Devontae Shuler - Second Team).
- Ole Miss has produced 14 All-SEC guards over the past 13 seasons.
- Breein Tyree is the SEC's leading returning scorer after averaging 17.9 ppg a season ago (third in the conference).
- Breein Tyree is one of 20 guards named to the Jerry West Award Watch List, given to the shooting guard of the year.
- Devontae Shuler recorded 56 steals a season ago, a record by a Rebel sophomore and the seventh most by any Rebel in a single season.
- Kermit Davis begins his 25th season as a collegiate head coach, including 22nd in NCAA Division I.
- A season ago, the Rebels led the SEC and ranked fourth nationally in free throw percentage (78.3), also a school record; Ole Miss shot over 85 percent from the free throw line in 12 games last season, including 90 percent-or-better in six games.
- 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.

YEAR TWO OF THE DAVIS ERA
Kermit Davis enters his second season at the helm of Ole Miss Basketball. A nine-time conference coach of the year, Davis is 31st among active Division I head coaches with 423 career wins over 21 seasons, including stints at MT, Idaho and Texas A&M. In 24 seasons as a college basketball head coach, he has amassed 489 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.

REBELS ROLL PAST MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE IN EXHIBITION
The 2019-20 Ole Miss men's basketball team took the floor for the first time Nov. 4, cruising to a 69-43 win in an exhibition win over Division II foe Mississippi College. Sophomore KJ Buffen scored a team-high 21 points to lead the Rebels to victory. The Gainesville, Georgia, native imposed his will on the Choctaws early, scoring 17 first half points. The 6-foot-7 forward went 8 of 10 from the floor and added a team-high six rebounds. Defensively, the Rebels forced 20 turnovers during the contest and turned them into 22 points. Ole Miss held MC without a three-pointer, as the Choctaws went 0 for 3 on the night. The Rebels also controlled the boards 39-24. Ten different Rebels scored throughout the contest, including five newcomers part of the 2019 recruiting class. Junior college transfer Bryce Williams tallied 10 points, three assists, two steals and one rebound. His JUCO teammate, Khadim Sy, added nine points and five rebounds. Sammy Hunter (five points), Antavion Collum (four points) and Austin Crowley (two points) found the basket as well. The Rebels shot 48.0 percent (24 of 50) from the floor.

SCOUTING ARKANSAS STATE
The Red Wolves enter Friday's matchup with a game already under their belts. Tipping off the season at home, Arkansas State defeated Arkansas-Monticello 65-49 (Nov. 6). Four Red Wolves reached double figures. Senior guard Canberk Kus tallied 17 points on 8 of 13 shooting, while junior forward J.J. Matthews produced a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds). Marquis Eaton (11) and Nick Willis (10) rounded out the balanced scoring. Eaton is Arkansas State's leading returning scorer from a season ago after averaging 11.2 ppg as a sophomore. Mike Balado is in his third season as ASU's head coach after spending four years as an assistant coach under Rick Pitino at Louisville.

SERIES HISTORY
Ole Miss leads the all-time series with Arkansas State 21-9, including victories in the last four matchups. Prior to the winning streak in the series, the Red Wolves rattled off four straight from 1990-2004. The Rebels won the series' first four contests with a pair of wins in both 1925 and 1926. The last time the two squads faced off was nine years ago to begin the 2010-11 season.

LAST TIME WE MET
The last time the Rebels and Red Wolves met on the hardwood, they were tipping off the 2010-11 season at Tad Smith Coliseum (Nov. 12, 2010). Chris Warren scored 20 of his game-high 26 points in the second half to lead Ole Miss to a come-from-behind 68-60 victory over Arkansas State. Zach Graham added 12 points for the Rebels. Trevor Gaskins had eight points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Terrance Henry and Nick Williams also added eight points apiece. Ole Miss trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half. Arkansas State used a 10-0 run midway through the opening period to extend an 18-17 lead to 28-17. The Red Wolves led 32-24 at the break. Warren's 3-pointer from the top of the key with 4:30 left gave Ole Miss a 58-50 advantage -- the Rebels' largest lead of the game until his dunk in the final second.

REBELS VS. THE SUN BELT
Ole Miss has a 68-19 record against current members of the Sun Belt Conference. Along with holding a 21-9 advantage over Arkansas State, the Rebels have also faced Appalachian State (2-0), 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), Troy (10-0) and ULM (16-4). The only Sun Belt team Ole Miss has not met on the hardwood is UT Arlington.

A LATE START
With the season opener on Friday, Ole Miss is one of the last teams in college basketball to start its season three days later. The 2019-20 campaign officially began on Tuesday, Nov. 5, and the Rebels are one of only two SEC teams that did not play over the first two days of the season. Ole Miss and LSU begin their respective seasons on Friday (Nov. 8); the Tigers face the Falcons of Bowling Green.

SUCCESS IN OPENERS
Ole Miss has won 14 of its last 15 season openers with the lone loss coming at the start of the 2014-15 season. The Rebels fell 66-65 to Charleston Southern, but still managed to reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Ole Miss opens the season at home for the 13th straight season.

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 has earned several preseason accolades heading into his senior campaign. 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 this 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).

CLIMBING THE CAREER CHARTS
Senior guard Breein Tyree begins his final year as a Rebel ranked 29th on the all-time scoring list with 1,187 points. If he matches his scoring output from a season ago, he'll end his career in the top 10. Through 99 games in an Ole Miss uniform, Tyree has knocked down 143 three-pointers to sit 11th in the program's rankings.

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.

NEWCOMER NOTICE
Kermit Davis' first full recruiting class at Ole Miss became one of the highest ranked in school history, coming in at No. 22 nationally by Rivals.com. Four-star prospects include guard Austin Crowley, guard Bryce Williams, forward Antavion Collum and forward Khadim Sy. Williams and Sy are junior college transfers from Daytona State, where Sy became one of the most sought-after JUCO prospects in the country (spent his freshman season at Virginia Tech). Sammy Hunter, one of the top prospects out of The Bahamas, is another newcomer who could make an immediate impact after a successful prep career in Canada. Joining the newcomers will be guard Franco Miller Jr. and forward Carlos Curry. The two Rebels both redshirted a season ago, but both look to make an impact after one season under Davis.

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 must replace 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.

UNDERRATED REBELS
Ahead of the SEC's media day, a panel consisting of SEC and national media members picked the Rebels to finish eighth in the conference standings this season. That shouldn't worry Ole Miss fans, as the Rebels have placed higher than the media's projection in seven of the last eight seasons since the SEC went away from the divisional format. That includes last year when Ole Miss was predicted to finish last in the SEC, only to tie for sixth and return to the NCAA Tournament under first year head coach and 2019 SEC Coach of the Year Kermit Davis.

SEC COACH OF THE YEAR
Kermit Davis became the sixth Ole Miss men's basketball coach to earn SEC Coach of the Year honors, earning the award in his first season in Oxford (2018-19). He joined the winningest coach in program history, Andy Kennedy, as the only two coaches to be named SEC Coach of the Year in his first season guiding the Rebels. The Leakesville, Mississippi, native led one of the biggest turnarounds in the country, as the Rebels improved from 12-20 (5-13 SEC) a season ago to 20-13 (10-8 SEC). The eight-win improvement is ranked 11th in the nation as well as the best among Power 5 schools. While Ole Miss was projected to finish last in the SEC, Davis got the Rebels off to a hot start. Ole Miss began conference play 3-0, helping Davis become the first Rebel head coach to win his first three SEC games. He was the second coach to win 13 of his first 15 games as well as the third coach in program history to win 20 games in his first season. With 20 wins, Davis became just the third active SEC head coach to win at least 20 games in his first season in the conference (John Calipari – Kentucky, Mike White – Florida).

SINGLE-SEASON STEALS
Averaging 1.7 steals per game a season ago, Devontae Shuler ranked sixth in the SEC. Moreover, his 56 steals over the 2018-19 campaign were the most every by a sophomore Rebel, the seventh most by any Rebel in a single season. He recorded at least three steals in 10 different games.

Ole Miss Single-Season Steals
   1. 89 - Gerald Glass (1989)
   2. 73 - Jason Smith (1999)
   3. 70 - Gerald Glass (1990)
   4. 58 - Murphy Holloway (2013); Rod Barnes (1988)
   6. 57 - Stefan Moody (2015)
   7. 56 - Devontae Shuler (2019)
   8. 55 - Rahim Lockhart (2000); Ervin Garnes (1994); Eric Laird (1984)

CONVERTING AT THE CHARITY STRIPE
Shooting 78.3 percent as a team, Ole Miss led the SEC and ranked fourth nationally in free throw percentage a season ago. That mark set a new school record, breaking the previous mark of 77.3 percent during the 2014-15 season. Breein Tyree was an 83.1 percent free throw shooter (128 of 154) to rank third in the SEC among qualifiers, while Devontae Shuler shot 82.3 percent clip (51 of 62) from the line.

PAVILION PACKED
During the 2018-19, a new average attendance record was set for The Pavilion. The home attendance mark was 7,816 per game, a 13 percent increase from last season. In the first full season in The Pavilion, the average attendance was 7,396. Moreover, 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 is up significantly from the 7,104 average last season. The Kentucky game was the fifth sellout of the season, another Pavilion record. The Pavilion has nine sellouts in its history (opened in January 2016).

DEFENDING HOME COURT
Winning at home has been a trademark at Ole Miss. Over the past 13 seasons, the Rebels are 154-47 (.766 win pct.) in home games. In three-plus seasons playing in the $96.5 million Pavilion at Ole Miss, the Rebels hold a 41-21 (.661) advantage against the opposition. Ole Miss has won 279 of its last 358 games (.779 win pct.) in Oxford dating back to the 1996-97 campaign.

NEXT ON THE HARDWOOD
Ole Miss opens the 2019-20 regular season with a four-game homestand. Following the season opener versus Arkansas State, the Rebels welcome Norfolk State for a 6:30 p.m. tip (Nov. 12). The day before the Ole Miss football team battles LSU in the final home game of its season, the basketball Rebels square off against Western Michigan (Nov. 15, 6 p.m.). Closing out the homestand (Nov. 19), Seattle flies into Oxford for another 6:30 p.m. contest. All games will be broadcast on SEC Network+.

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Players Mentioned

KJ Buffen

Antavion Collum

Austin Crowley

Carlos Curry

Terence Davis

Sammy Hunter

Franco Miller Jr.

Devontae Shuler

Khadim Sy

Breein Tyree

Bryce Williams

The University of Mississippi Athletics