Davis Returns to Middle Tennessee as Rebels Begin Road Trip

			OLE MISS (3-0, 0-0 SEC) at MIDDLE TENNESSEE (2-3, 0-0 C-USA) Wednesday, Dec. 16 • 7 p.m. • Murfreesboro, Tenn. Murphy Center
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GAME 4
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020
Time: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Arena: Murphy Center (11,520)
Television: CBS Sports Network
   Chris Hassel, play-by-play
   Mike O'Donnell, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss Sports Network (XM-190, Internet-961)
   David Kellum, play-by-play
   Marc Dukes, analyst
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com/TuneIn app
Series: Series tied 6-6
Last Meeting: Dec. 14, 2019
   Ole Miss won 82-64
   Oxford, Miss.

TIPOFF TIDBITS
- The Rebels and Blue Raiders square off for the fifth straight year and the eighth time in the past 10 seasons; Kermit Davis has been on the winning side of each matchup over the past four years (two at Middle Tennessee, two at Ole Miss).
- Kermit Davis spent 16 seasons at Middle Tennessee and became the winningest coach in school history as well as Sun Belt Conference history, earning 332 wins at the school.
- Assistant coaches Win Case and Ronnie Hamilton joined Kermit Davis on the move from Middle Tennessee to Ole Miss.
- Devontae Shuler will square off against his brother, Dontrell Shuler; it will be the second time two brothers played against one another in a Division I game this season.
- The Rebels completed an unbeaten three-game homestand over five days, which included a 68-54 win over Central Arkansas on Kermit Davis' 61st birthday and his 800th game as a college head coach.
- Ole Miss has held opponents under 40 percent shooting through the first three games in each of the past three seasons; the Rebels are 15th in the country in field goal percentage defense (35.1) this season.
- The Rebels enter Wednesday's matchup ranked fifth nationally in turnover margin (+10.0) and turnovers forced (22.3 per game); both marks lead the SEC.
- Surrendering just 52.3 ppg, Ole Miss has the nation's seventh-best scoring defense.
- Ole Miss is wrapping up a stretch of playing four games in seven days, the most games in a one-week span since 2016.
- The Rebels are 13-1 in December under Kermit Davis.
- Devontae Shuler ranks ninth in Ole Miss history with 150 career steals.
- Luis Rodriguez leads the SEC and ranks 16th nationally with a 6.0 assist/turnover ratio.
- Ole Miss has limited opponents to a 24.6 field goal percentage in the first half this season.
- Austin Crowley scored a career-high 11 points in last year's win over Middle Tennessee.

AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
- Ole Miss ranks fifth nationally in turnover margin (+10.0) and turnovers forced (22.3).
- The Rebels are seventh in the country in scoring defense (52.3).
- Ole Miss ranks 15th in field goal percentage defense (.351).
- Luis Rodriguez ranks 16th in the nation with an 6.0 assist/turnover ratio.
- Devontae Shuler is shooting 56.3 percent from beyond the arc, the 17th-best three-point field goal percentage nationwide.

SEC LEADERS
- Ole Miss leads the SEC in turnover margin (+9.0) and turnovers forced per game (22.3).
- The Rebels are second in the conference in scoring defense (52.3) and assist/turnover ratio (1.4).
- Devontae Shuler leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (56.3), while ranking second in scoring (20.5 ppg) steals per game (2.7), threes made per game (3.0).
- Luis Rodriguez is the conference leader in assist/turnover ratio (6.0).
- Averaging 2.3 blocks per game, Romello White ranks third in the SEC.

LATE START
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the college basketball season was pushed back to November 25. Then, the virus hit the Rebels, forcing the cancellation of the Justin Reed Ole Miss Classic (Nov. 25-27) as well as a matchup against Memphis (Dec. 5). The program paused team activities until December 7. When the Rebels tipped off their season Thursday night (Dec. 10), Ole Miss was the final Power 5 team (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) to start its season. It's been 72 years since the Rebels started a basketball this season this late, defeating Mississippi College to start the 1948-49 campaign (Dec. 11, 1948).

AND HERE. WE. GO.
Ole Miss wasted no time trying to get in non-conference games, scheduling four games in a span of seven days (Dec. 10-16). Playing every other day, it will be the first time the Rebels have played four games over a one-week span since Nov. 18-24, 2016. That week featured the Rebels advancing to the finals of the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands before returning home to beat Montana on Thanksgiving.

SCOUTING MIDDLE TENNESSEE
- Middle Tennessee enters Wednesday's game with a 2-3 record following a 76-57 win over Division III school Covenant College.
- The matchup with the Rebels wraps up a four-game homestand.
- Jordan Davis averages a team-high 11.8 ppg.
- Dontrell Shuler, brother of Ole Miss guard Devontae Shuler, is averaging 10.2 ppg off the bench to go along with a team-high 3.0 assists per game.
- Nick McDevitt is in his third season as Middle Tennessee head coach, taking over following Kermit Davis' departure to Ole Miss.

SERIES HISTORY
The series is deadlocked at 6-6 with Kermit Davis winning each of the past four matchups. The Rebels won the first two games of the series, one in 1960 and one in 1963, before the Blue Raiders took six of the next eight meetings. Four of those Middle Tennessee victories were led by Davis over his current school. This season marks the fifth straight season that the two programs have met on the hardwood, including the eighth time over the past decade.

LAST TIME WE MET
Ole Miss made sure head coach Kermit Davis had a happy 60th birthday (Dec. 14, 2019). Behind 34 points from Breein Tyree, the Rebels took down Davis' former team, Middle Tennessee, 82-64 at The Pavilion. Ole Miss made it rain from long range, going 14 of 22 (63.6 percent), one three-pointer away from the school record. Tyree made eight of his own, shooting 8 of 11 from beyond the arc. The Somerset, New Jersey, native scored 25 of his points in the opening half to make sure the game was never in doubt. Austin Crowley added a career-high 11 points. Sharing the basketball throughout the afternoon, the Rebels tallied 23 assists on 28 buckets. Devontae Shuler almost recorded a double-double with 10 points and a career-high nine assists.

REBELS VS. CONFERENCE USA
Ole Miss is 43-22 all-time against the current members of the Conference USA, including a 6-6 mark versus Middle Tennessee. Throughout history, the Rebels have also faced Charlotte (2-1), Florida Atlantic (1-0), Florida International (1-0), Louisiana Tech (8-5), Marshall (2-1), North Texas (2-0), Rice (2-2), Southern Miss (18-6) and Western Kentucky (1-1).

BATTLE OF BROTHERS
When the Rebels and Blue Raiders take the court Wednesday, a pair of brothers will face off as well. Ole Miss senior guard Devontae Shuler will find his younger brother, Middle Tennessee junior Dontrell Shuler, on the other side of the floor. It will mark just the second time this season that a pair of brothers have played against one another. Jordan Mains (Arizona) and Nik Mains (Northern Arizona) squared off last week (Dec. 7).

BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Ole Miss coaches Kermit Davis, Win Case and Ronnie Hamilton will see a familiar team on the opposite bench Wednesday night, returning to a facility they know well. As a staff, the trio was together at Middle Tennessee for four seasons and coached the Blue Raiders to the biggest wins in program history. They helped produce a stretch in which the Blue Raiders earned three straight Conference USA championships, recorded two NCAA Tournament upsets over No. 2 seed Michigan State (2016) and No. 5 seed Minnesota (2017) and won a school-record 31 games (2016). Meanwhile, Davis and Case were in Murfreesboro for a decade together, leading MT to seven conference titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances. As the head coach at Middle Tennessee for 16 seasons, Davis won 332 games to become the winningest coach in school history.

LOCKDOWN DEFENSE
Head coach Kermit Davis loves a team that plays good defense with toughness. His Rebels have been that team this season, starting off as one of the best defensive squads in college basketball. Ole Miss has locked down on defense from the opening tip in each of the first three games, surrendering an average of only 17.7 points in the first half on 24.6 percent shooting. Overall, Ole Miss is at the top of the SEC and the country in several defensive categories.

Category	Stat	SEC Rank	NCAA Rank
Turnover Margin	+10.0	1st	5th
Turnovers Forced	22.3	1st	5th
Scoring Defense	52.3	2nd	7th
FG% Defense	35.1	3rd	15th

NEARING 1K
A pair of Rebels are nearing 1,000 points for their respective careers. Devontae Shuler has 968 career points, all at Ole Miss, while Romello White has 964 points. White scored 927 of his points at Arizona State.

SHULER TAKES COMMAND
With Terence Davis (Toronto Raptors) and Breein Tyree (Miami Heat), All-SEC guards from the previous two seasons, graduated and in the NBA, Devontae Shuler has become the Rebels' leader. Shuler paces the team in scoring (20.5 ppg), assists (4.0 per game) and steals (2.7 spg). The Irmo, South Carolina, native is making 53.8 percent of his attempts from the floor, including 56.3 from long range (leads the SEC). Shuler also has found success at the line, going 10 of 11 (90.9 percent) on the young season.

HOT HANDS
First it was Devontae Shuler, making nine of his 10 shot attempts (90 percent) for 23 points to lead Ole Miss to a victory over Jackson State. Romello White followed his teammate with a 20-point game versus UNCW, going 7 of 8 (87.5 percent) from the floor. It marked the first time in at least the past 25 years that Ole Miss had a pair of Rebels shoot 87.5 percent or better (minimum five attempts) in back-to-back games.

LUIS GOT GAME
After going one full year without playing (season-ending foot injury on November 27, 2019), Luis Rodriguez has returned to become a leader for the Rebels. The Los Angeles, California, native paces the team in rebounds (7.7 per game) and assists (4.0). Committing only two turnovers in three games, Rodriguez's 6.0 assist/turnover ratio tops the SEC and ranks 16th in the nation. In the win over UNCW, Rodriguez produced his first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Both marks were career highs, and he became the first Rebel with 12 rebounds in a game since NBA Rebel Terence Davis pulled down a dozen boards in his final home game (March 5, 2019 vs. No. 5 Kentucky).

ROMELLO'S WORLD
Graduate transfer Romello White has brought his toughness and physicality to Oxford. The Arizona State transfer is averaging 12.3 ppg and 7.7 rpg, ranking second in scoring and tied for the team lead in rebounds. With eight blocks over the first three games, White sits third in the SEC in blocks per game. Earning his first start as a Rebel, he made seven of his eight shot attempts on his way to a game-high 20 points versus UNCW. It was the fourth 20-point game of White's collegiate career and the first since February 4, 2018 (at Washington State) when he was a freshman at Arizona State.

SHULER TABBED PRESEASON SECOND TEAM ALL-SEC
For the second consecutive season, Devontae Shuler was named Preseason All-SEC by the conference coaches. After ranking fifth in the SEC in steals (1.7 per game) and assist/turnover ratio (1.7) a season ago, one of only two players conference-wide to finish top five in both categories, Shuler was tabbed Second Team All-SEC heading into his senior season. Shuler, the only fourth-year senior on the team, is the Rebels' leading returning scorer (11.7 ppg) following the graduation of First Team All-SEC honoree Breein Tyree (19.7 ppg). Along with pacing Ole Miss in steals on the defensive end of the court, he also produced a team-best 3.3 assists per game. The Irmo, South Carolina, native put together five 20-point games throughout the 2019-20 season, including a career-high 28 points at LSU (Feb. 1).

NEW, BUT EXPERIENCED BUNCH
The Rebels have several new faces on this year's team, but that doesn't mean they don't lack experience. Four of the six newcomers are transfers, making the Rebels the most experienced team in the SEC in terms of Division I minutes (15,861) entering the 2020-21 season. Graduate transfers Dimencio Vaughn (Rider) and Romello White (Arizona State) played three seasons apiece at their previous schools, while Robert Allen (Samford) and Jarkel Joiner (CSU Bakersfield) already boast two years of experience at the Division I level.

GREAT GRAD TRANSFERS
Ole Miss added a pair of superb grad transfers in Dimencio Vaughn (Rider) and Romello White (Arizona State). Vaughn rated as high as the No. 4 graduate transfer according to 247Sports, while White ranked fourth on ESPN's grad transfer list. Over 95 games for the Broncs, Vaughn scored 1,239 points and shot 47.4 percent from the floor while earning First Team All-MAAC honors twice. This past season, Vaughn averaged a team-high 14.8 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game to rank fifth in the conference in both categories. The New York City native added 1.8 steals per game to lead the Broncs (second in the league), and his 48.4 field goal percentage ranked eighth in the MAAC. Over three seasons at Arizona State, White started 92 of the 95 games he played for the Sun Devils. He tallied 927 points during his ASU career, averaging 9.8 ppg and shooting 60.5 percent from the floor (second on the program's all-time list). During the 2019-20 campaign, White ranked second in the Pac-12 with 8.8 rebounds per game.

OXFORD'S OWN
Having to sit out a year after transferring from CSU Bakersfield, it's been a long wait for Jarkel Joiner to play for his hometown school. Joiner brings an electric game to the Ole Miss backcourt, having led the WAC in scoring (18.6 ppg) and breaking the CSU Bakersfield single season scoring record (532 points) during the 2018-19 campaign. Before taking his talents out west, Joiner starred in Ole Miss' backyard at Oxford High School. As a senior, he ranked fourth in the nation in scoring (36.5 ppg) to lead the Chargers to the state semifinals. Joiner was often found throwing alley-oops to fellow Oxford native and current Seattle Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf.

REPLACING TYREE
The Rebels have a big void to fill with the graduation of Breein Tyree, who signed with the Miami Heat on Sunday (Nov. 22). The Somerset, New Jersey, native ranked second in the SEC in scoring a season ago by averaging 19.7 ppg (36th nationally). Tyree put the team on his back at times, producing 15 games of at least 20 points that included a career-high 40 points against rival Mississippi State (Feb. 11). Earning First Team All-SEC accolades twice, Tyree etched his name in the Ole Miss record book for several categories.

Category	Rank	Stat
Points	6th	1,797
3-Pointers Made	6th	207
Free Throws Made	9th	384
Field Goals Made	10th	603
Assists	10th	325
Minutes Played	10th	3,634

LUIS IS BACK
Luis Rodriguez saw his 2019-20 campaign cut short just five games into the season, suffering a foot fracture during a pregame shootaround. At the time, he was a starter and ranked second on the team in rebounds (5.2 per game). The Los Angeles, California, native is back this season and was even granted a medical hardship by the NCAA, retaining his sophomore status.

ALLEN GRANTED IMMEDIATE ELIGIBILITY
After transferring to Ole Miss from Samford in the spring, forward Robert Allen was declared immediately eligible for the 2020-21 season. Allen was one of Samford's leading scorers and rebounders over a pair of seasons. Playing 65 games for the Bulldogs, he averaged 12.0 ppg and 7.7 rebounds per game to go along with 11 double-doubles. Wrapping up his sophomore season, Allen finished with a team-high 43 blocks through 32 games. He scored 14.1 ppg and pulled down 7.0 rpg, ranking second on the team in both categories. His 1.3 blocks per game was third in the Southern Conference, while his rebounding average ranked fifth.

UNDERRATED REBELS
For the SEC's annual preseason poll, a panel consisting of SEC and national media members picked the Rebels to finish ninth 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 nine seasons since the SEC went away from the divisional format. That includes the 2018-19 campaign 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.

YEAR THREE OF THE DAVIS ERA
Kermit Davis is in his third 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 441 career wins over 23 seasons, including stints at MT, Idaho and Texas A&M. In 26 seasons as a college basketball head coach, he has amassed 507 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 just the third active coach (Dana Altman, Bob Huggins) to be named coach of the year in four different conferences.

NEXT ON THE HARDWOOD
After their first road game of the season, the Rebels remain away from home with a matchup against Dayton (Dec. 19). The battle with the Flyers tips off at 1:30 p.m. CT on NBCSN.

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Players Mentioned

Robert Allen

Austin Crowley

Jarkel Joiner

Luis Rodriguez

Devontae Shuler

Breein Tyree

Dimencio Vaughn

Romello White

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