Ole Miss Hoops Heads to Florida for Another Road Test

			OLE MISS (9-6, 0-2 SEC) at FLORIDA (10-5, 2-1 SEC) Tuesday, January 14 • 6 PM • Gainesville, Fla. Exactech Arena (10,151)
Watch • Listen • Live Stats • Buy Tickets Ole Miss Game Notes (PDF) • Florida Game Notes • SEC Game Notes (PDF)

GAME 16
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020
Time: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Gainesville, Fla.
Arena: Exactech Arena (10,151)
Television: ESPN2
   Karl Ravech, play-by-play
   Jimmy Dykes, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss Sports Network (XM - 385, Sirius/XM Internet - 975)
   David Kellum, play-by-play
   Marc Dukes, analyst
Live Video: ESPN.com/ESPN app
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com/TuneIn app
Series: Florida leads 66-46
Last Meeting: Jan. 30, 2019
   Florida won 90-86 (OT)
   Gainesville, Fla.

TIPOFF TIDBITS
- Ole Miss and Florida are playing a home-and-home series for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
- Twelve of the past 15 games in the series have been decided by seven points or less.
- The Rebels are shooting 87.9 percent (29 of 33) from the free throw line in conference games, leading the SEC.
- Breein Tyree leads the SEC in scoring during conference games, averaging 26.5 ppg; he is the first Rebel to score at least 25 points in each of the first two SEC games since Joe Harvell (1992).
- Breein Tyree has increased his scoring output from non-conference to SEC play in each of his first three seasons.
- Ole Miss is one of two SEC teams to play four non-conference Quadrant 1 games, joining Georgia.
- Sophomore Blake Hinson and junior Bryce Williams hail from the state of Florida.
- KJ Buffen scored 17 points against the Gators last year, his most as a freshman.
- Last year's contest is the Rebels' only overtime game under Kermit Davis.
- Ole Miss has had a +12 advantage on the boards in three games this season, including Saturday's matchup with Arkansas; last season against Florida, the Rebels were +14 on the glass.
- In Saturday's loss to Arkansas, Ole Miss posted the third-best free throw shooting percentage in school history by making 25 of 26 (96.2 percent).
- Against the Razorbacks, KJ Buffen and Devontae Shuler became the first Rebels to record a double-double this season; each produced the first of their careers.
- Devontae Shuler has scored in double figures in seven straight games, the longest streak by a Rebel this season.
- Starters accounted for 70 of the team's 72 points versus Arkansas.
- Veterans Breein Tyree (17.8 ppg), Blake Hinson (11.0 ppg), Devontae Shuler (10.9 ppg) and KJ Buffen (9.7 ppg) have accounted for 66.7 percent of the team's scoring this season.
- Breein Tyree is the SEC's leading active scorer with 1,454 career points, which also ranks 15th on the Ole Miss all-time scoring list; Tyree is tied with Toronto Raptor Terence Davis for seventh in Ole Miss history with 176 made three-pointers.

SEC LEADERS
- Ole Miss leads the SEC in free throw percentage in conference games (87.9)
- Breein Tyree is the SEC's leader in scoring during league games (26.5 ppg).
- The Rebels rank third in the SEC in assist/turnover ratio (1.1)
- Breein Tyree ranks fifth in scoring overall (17.8 ppg); he is the SEC's active leader in career points (1,454).

SCOUTING FLORIDA
Florida enters Tuesday's matchup with a 10-5 record, including a 2-1 mark in SEC play. The Gators are coming off a 91-75 setback at Missouri for their first conference loss of the season. Florida has taken care of the basketball, only surrendering 12.1 turnovers per game for the fewest in the SEC. Grad transfer Kerry Blackshear leads the Gators with 15.1 ppg and 8.4 rpg. He has found success at the charity stripe, serving as the conference leader in makes (93) and attempts (111) for 83.8 percent. Keyontae Johnson adds 12.9 ppg, while Andrew Nembhard averages 11.1 ppg and paces the Gators in assists (5.9 per game). The Gators are 5-1 at home and have scored more than 100 points in each of their last two games in Exactech Arena. Florida is coached by Mike White, who is in his fifth season at the helm of the program after serving as the head coach at Louisiana Tech for four seasons. White is a Rebel, having played at Ole Miss (1996-99) before serving as an assistant coach for seven seasons (2005-11).

SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday's game will be the 113th meeting between the Rebels and the Gators. Florida holds a 66-46 lead in the series, which began in 1940, but Ole Miss has won three of the past seven meetings. Twelve of the last 15 games in the series have been decided by seven points or less. This year, the two teams will play a home-and-home series for the first time since the 2015-16 season. Florida makes the trip to Oxford next month (Feb. 8).

LAST TIME WE MET
Ole Miss suffered a heartbreaking loss as the Florida Gators prevailed 90-86 in overtime at Exactech Arena (Jan. 30, 2019). It was a game of runs seeing 17 lead changes and nine ties throughout, and Florida ultimately found momentum in overtime to come away with the win. Florida won by way of balanced scoring beginning with Noah Locke, who led the Gators with 22 points on 7 of 13 shooting. KeVaughn Allen added 21, including the game-tying three to force overtime. The Gators scored 20 points off 13 Ole Miss turnovers, and shot 49 percent from the field, including 42 percent from the three-point line. The Rebels were led by Terence Davis who had a game-high 26 points on 8 of 17 shooting. Breein Tyree added 20 points of his own, 16 of them coming in the second half and overtime. KJ Buffen scored a season-high 17 points, and went 8 of 8 from the line in the second half, tying his career high in made free throws. Ole Miss was +14 on the glass and had 19 second chance points.

REBEL-GATOR CONNECTIONS
- The Gators are led by former Ole Miss letterwinner Mike White. A point guard for the Rebels from 1996-99, White helped Ole Miss to 74 wins, two SEC West titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances in his four years in Oxford. A co-captain as a senior, White ranks seventh in Ole Miss history with 370 career assists. After his playing career, White served as an Ole Miss assistant coach for seven seasons, including five under Andy Kennedy.
- Ole Miss juniors Devontae Shuler and Khadim Sy, as well as Florida freshman forward Keyontae Johnson, played at Oak Hill Academy. However, the two Rebels were never teammates with the Gator.

SUNSHINE STATE REBELS
Sophomore Blake Hinson and junior Bryce Williams hail from The Sunshine State. Hinson is a native of Deltona, Florida (106 miles southeast of Gainesville), while Williams is from Tampa (130 miles southwest of Gainesville). Last season, Williams played in Florida along fellow Rebel Khadim Sy; the duo led Daytona State to a 25-7 record.

BREEIN LOVES SEC PLAY
Ole Miss senior Breein Tyree thrives during conference play. Not only is he the leading active scorer in the SEC (1,454 points), but his scoring output has increased from non-conference action to SEC play in each of his first three seasons. He kept the trend going last week, scoring 26 points against Texas A&M in the conference opener before tallying 27 versus Arkansas. With those performances, Tyree became the first Rebel to score at least 25 points in each of the first two SEC games of the season since Joe Harvell (1992). During the 1991-92 campaign, Harvell started conference play with four consecutive 30-point games.

Tyree's Seasons	Non-Conference	SEC
2016-17 (Freshman)	5.1 ppg	9.3 ppg
2017-18 (Sophomore)	9.0 ppg	12.3 ppg
2018-19 (Junior)	16.5 ppg	19.1 ppg
2019-20 (Senior)	16.5 ppg	26.5 ppg

SUCCESS AT THE STRIPE
The Rebels were almost perfect from the free throw line versus the Razorbacks (Jan. 11), making 25 of their 26 attempts to set a new Pavilion record for free throw percentage. The 96.2 percentage was the third-best in school history, behind only a pair of perfect percentages. Below is the top five single game free throw percentages (minimum 10 attempts) in 110 seasons of Ole Miss Basketball.

	Percentage	FT-FTA	Opponent	Date
1.	100%	22-22	South Alabama	Nov. 18, 2008
	100%	10-10	Mississippi State	Feb. 28, 1959
3.	96.2%	25-26	Arkansas	Jan. 11, 2020
4.	95.7%	22-23	Baylor	Jan. 28, 2017
	95.7%	22-23	Murray State	Nov. 17, 2010

DOUBLE TROUBLE DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Against Arkansas on Saturday, KJ Buffen and Devontae Shuler produced the Rebels' first double-doubles of the season. It was also the first double-doubles of their careers. Buffen tallied 12 points to go along with a career-high 10 rebounds, while Shuler recorded 10 points and a career-best 11 boards. The duo became the first pair of Rebels to put together a double-double in the same game since Terence Davis and Dominik Olejniczak accomplished the feat against No. 22 Auburn (Jan. 9, 2018).

STEADY SHULER
Ole Miss junior Devontae Shuler has been one of the most consistent Rebels this season. The Irmo, South Carolina, native leads the team in assists (4.1 per game) and steals (1.7 per game), while ranking third in scoring (10.9 ppg), rebounding (4.7 per game) and blocks (0.5 per game). He is also one of only two Rebels to start all 15 games. Over the past seven contests, Shuler has scored in double figures in all of them; it is the longest streak by any Rebel this season. During the streak, he is averaging 12.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg and 5.1 apg.

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. However, Ole Miss has 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 season 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.

REBELS FALL IN SEESAW CONTEST TO ARKANSAS
Ole Miss got double-doubles from KJ Buffen and Devontae Shuler along with 27 points from Breein Tyree, but it wasn't enough as the Rebels dropped a back-and-forth battle to Arkansas Saturday (Jan. 11). A career-high 34 points from Isaiah Joe allowed the Razorbacks to rally from a halftime deficit and escape The Pavilion with a 76-72 win. Tyree broke the 20-point plateau against Arkansas for the third straight time, producing his eighth 20-point game of the season. Buffen and Shuler tallied career highs in rebounds to produce the first double-doubles of their careers. Buffen had 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Shuler added 10 points and a team-high 11 boards. As a team, the Rebels dominated the glass 40-28. Both teams made their free throws, combining for 47 of 53 (88.7 percent) at the line. Ole Miss set a Pavilion record by making 25 of 26 (96.2 percent), the third-best free throw percentage in school history and the best in 12 years. Besides Joe's career night, the Rebels kept leading scorer Mason Jones in check. He scored 13 points, seven below his average, on 3 of 12 shooting. While Ole Miss limited the Razorbacks to just 27 percent (8 of 30) shooting in the first half, the visitors shot 58 percent (15 of 26) in the second half to make their comeback.

TYREE'S 20-POINT GAMES
Breein Tyree has eight 20-point games on the season, producing three such contests in November and three in December to go along with a pair to start SEC play. He has 30 20-point games over his Ole Miss career. His biggest game as a Rebel was a career-high 34 points versus Middle Tennessee (Dec. 14) for his third career 30-point game. Tyree went 8 of 11 from beyond the arc in the victory. Last year, he scored 20 points against the Gators.

VETERANS LEAD THE WAY
While several newcomers have made immediate impacts to expand Ole Miss' depth, the Rebels are led by a veteran cast. Senior guard Breein Tyree (17.8 ppg), sophomore Blake Hinson (11.0 ppg), junior Devontae Shuler (10.9 ppg) and sophomore forward KJ Buffen (9.7 ppg) have accounted for 66.7 percent of the team's scoring this season. Against Arkansas, the quartet scored 62 of the team's 72 points (86.1 percent). Tyree ranks fifth in the league in scoring, while Buffen leads the team in rebounding (6.6 per game) and blocks (0.9 per game). Shuler also paces the Rebels in assists (4.1 per game) and steals (1.7 per game), both top 10 in the SEC, while ranking sixth in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (1.8). Since returning from injury, Hinson has led the team in three-point shooting and put together six double-digit scoring performances, starting 10 games following the injury to Luis Rodriguez.

NEEDING BUFFEN
KJ Buffen was a primary bench player during his freshman campaign, but the 6-foot-7 forward is an important piece of the Ole Miss lineup as a sophomore. Starting all 15 games, one of only two Rebels to start each game, Buffen is averaging 9.7 ppg along with a team-best 6.6 rpg. His rebounding average is 13th in the conference. The Gainesville, Georgia, native is also leading the team in blocks (0.9), while ranking eighth in the SEC in steals (1.6 per game). Buffen tallied a career-high 23 points in a win over Norfolk State (Nov. 12) before producing his second career 20-point game to close out the calendar year against Tennessee Tech (Dec. 29). There is a correlation to Buffen's play determining the outcome of a game. In Ole Miss wins, he is averaging 12.3 ppg and 7.7 rpg while shooting 60.6 percent (43 of 71) from the floor. In losses, Buffen averages just 5.8 ppg and 5.0 rpg, making only 34.3 percent (12 of 35) of his shots.

CLIMBING THE CAREER CHARTS
In his final year as a Rebel, senior guard Breein Tyree ranks 15th on the all-time scoring list with 1,454 points. That career output leads all active players in the SEC. The Somerset, New Jersey, native scored 27 points against Arkansas (Jan. 11) to pass 1998 SEC Player of the Year Ansu Sesay (1,428) on the all-time scoring list. Next on Tyree's climb up the charts is Murphy Holloway (1,476). If he matches his scoring output from a season ago, he'll end his career in the top 10. Through 114 games in an Ole Miss uniform, Tyree has knocked down 176 three-pointers to sit in a tie for seventh in the program's rankings. He drained a pair of three-pointers against the Razorbacks to match former teammate Terence Davis for seventh all-time, while Stefan Moddy awaits in sixth with 181 career three-pointers.

BLAKE IS BACK
After missing the first four games of the season, sophomore Blake Hinson wasted no time making an immediate impact for the Rebels. The Deltona, Florida, native averages 11.0 ppg, second among Rebels, and is shooting 35.8 percent (19 of 53) from beyond the arc to lead the team in three-point field goal percentage. Hinson has also started all 10 games following the injury to Luis Rodriguez, filling a void in the Ole Miss lineup. He scored a season-high 23 points in the win over CSU Bakersfield (Dec. 7).

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 432 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 498 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.

TD IN THE NBA
The Rebels are without 2018-19 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 (Jan. 8), Davis was called upon to make his first career start, and boy did he deliver. The NBA Rebel scored a career-high 23 points and pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds, both team highs, to record his first double-double and lead the Raptors to a victory over the Hornets. In overtime, Davis knocked down back-to-back threes to turn a three-point deficit into a three-point lead. Averaging 7.0 ppg, he is only Raptor to play in all 39 of the team's games. Davis is the first Rebel to play in the NBA since Justin Reed (2005-07).

SESAY EARNS HIS DEGREE
Ansu Sesay, the 1998 SEC Player of the Year and consensus All-American, returned to Ole Miss this season as a manager to serve on Kermit Davis' staff and pursue his degree. Through the Rebel Reconnect program, he completed his final courses in December to earn a bachelor's degree in university studies. During his playing days, Sesay averaged 18.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game over his collegiate career as he became one of only two Rebels to ever record 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 200 assists. Leaving school early 20 years ago, he was chosen in the second round of the 1998 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks. Sesay played three years with the Seattle Sonics as well as one season as a member of the Golden State Warriors.

NEXT ON THE HARDWOOD
The Rebels return for a second straight weekend game at home, hosting LSU for a Saturday night battle (Jan. 18). The first game of this season's home-and-home series begins at 7 p.m. CT inside The Pavilion at Ole Miss, and it will be broadcast on ESPN2.

RebelsCalendar

Next Event

Players Mentioned

KJ Buffen

Terence Davis

Blake Hinson

Dominik Olejniczak

Luis Rodriguez

Devontae Shuler

Khadim Sy

Breein Tyree

Bryce Williams

The University of Mississippi Athletics