Ole Miss Welcomes Georgia to The Pavilion Saturday

			OLE MISS (6-5, 1-3 SEC) vs. GEORGIA (7-4, 0-4 SEC) Saturday, Jan. 16 • 11 a.m. • Oxford, Miss. The Pavilion at Ole Miss
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GAME 12
Date: Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021
Time: 11 a.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Arena: The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500)
Television: ESPN2
   Tom Hart, play-by-play
   Debbie Antonelli, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss Sports Network (XM-191, Internet-962)
   David Kellum, play-by-play
   Marc Dukes, analyst
Live Video: ESPN.com/ESPN app
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com/TuneIn app
Series: Georgia leads 74-45
Last Meeting: March 11, 2020
   Georgia won 81-63
   Nashville, Tenn. (SEC Tournament)

TIPOFF TIDBITS
- Saturday's game will be Ole Miss' fourth at home over a five-game stretch.
- Over the two matchups last season, the Rebels held the NBA's No. 1 draft pick, Anthony Edwards, to 19 points on 5 of 25 (20 percent) shooting, including just 4 of 19 (21.1 percent) from beyond the arc.
- Ole Miss and Georgia split last season's series; the Rebels won in Athens (Jan. 25) before the Bulldogs emerged victorious at the SEC Tournament (March 11), one of the final games of the 2019-20 season due to the pandemic.
- The Rebels are 3-1 against Georgia under Kermit Davis; Breein Tyree (graduated) led Ole Miss in scoring in each of those contests (21.5 ppg).
- Khadim Sy is averaging 11.5 ppg over his career when facing the Bulldogs.
- Ole Miss ranks 17th in the country in turnovers forced per game (17.8); the Rebels have forced at least 15 turnovers in 10 games this season.
- Luis Rodriguez leads the SEC with 22 steals on the season.
- Ole Miss has gone with six different starting lineups over the first 11 games.
- Devontae Shuler scored 19 points Tuesday at Florida, surpassing his total of 17 points over the first three conference games.
- The Rebel bench has averaged 32.3 ppg over the past three games, accounting for 49.5 percent of the team's points; through the first eight games prior, the Ole Miss bench scored only 29.6 percent of the Rebels' points.
- All six of Ole Miss' wins this season have been by double digits (average margin of victory: 24.3)
- Dating back to the 2019-20 season, 18 of the Rebels' last 21 wins have been by double digits.
- Devontae Shuler has 162 career steals to rank fifth in program history.
- In their six victories, the Rebels are outscoring opponents in the paint by an average of 37.7-17.3.
- Three Rebels have scored more than 1,000 points over their Division I careers: Dimencio Vaughn (1,257), Romello White (1,053) and Devontae Shuler (1,052).
- Kermit Davis is one of three active coaches to be named coach of the year in four different conferences.

SEC LEADERS
- Saturday's game will be a matchup between two of the top defenses in the country in terms of forcing turnovers; the Bulldogs lead the SEC and rank 12th nationally, forcing 18.1 turnovers per game. The Rebels are second in the SEC (17.8 per game) and rank 17th in the country.
- The Rebels rank second in scoring defense (62.6) and turnover margin (+4.0) as well.
- Luis Rodriguez leads the SEC in steals (22), while ranking second in steals per game (2.0).
- Devontae Shuler ranks second in the SEC with a 1.9 assist/turnover ratio.
- Shuler is the SEC's active leader in career points (1,052), career steals (162) and career assists (283).

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
- Georgia enters Saturday's contest with a 7-4 (0-4 SEC) record with an undefeated non-conference season before dropping four straight SEC games.
- K.D. Johnson made his debut as a Bulldog in Wednesday's loss to Auburn, scoring a team-high 21 points.
- Sahvir Wheeler (14.2 ppg) is dishing out 7.3 assists per game to lead the SEC and rank sixth nationally.
- Toumani Camara adds 14.1 ppg with a team-best 7.5 rpg; Camara and Wheeler each have four double-doubles this season.
- Tom Crean is in his third season as Georgia head coach after stops at Indiana and Marquette.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's game will be the 120th meeting between the two schools as Georgia holds a 74-45 lead in the series. Ole Miss is 3-1 against the Bulldogs under Kermit Davis. Prior to the loss in the last matchup, the Rebels won three straight in the series for the first time since taking four straight from 1988-90. The series has been close as of late with each team winning 11 times over the past 22 contests on the hardwood.

STOPPING THE NO. 1 PICK
During last season's split series, the Rebels shut down the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. In the first game, an Ole Miss win in Athens (Jan. 25), Anthony Edwards was limited to just 13 points on 3 of 12 shooting. Despite the Bulldogs exacting revenge in the opening round of the SEC Tournament (March 11), the Rebels held Edwards to only six points. Eliminating him driving to the rim and forcing him to settle for long threes, Ole Miss kept Edwards to a total of 19 points on 5 of 25 (20 percent) from the floor and just 4 of 19 (21.1 percent) from beyond the arc.

TAKING OVER FOR TYREE
Ole Miss will have to find someone else to lead in the matchup against Georgia following the graduation of Breein Tyree. The last five times the Rebels faced the Bulldogs, including all four games with Kermit Davis as head coach, Tyree was the team's leading scorer. The two-time All-SEC guard averaged 20.6 ppg versus Georgia over that stretch.

ON THIS DATE
- Jan. 16, 2008: Dwayne Curtis had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Trevor Gaskins scored 19 points and No. 15 Ole Miss snapped a six-game losing streak to Florida with an 89-87 victory. Nick Calathes and Dan Werner led Florida with 16 points apiece, and Chandler Parsons added 15. It was the first win for Ole Miss against the two-time defending national champions since 2002 and sent the Rebels (15-1) off to their best start since beginning the 1925-26 season 16-1.

TOUGH DEFENSE
Head coach Kermit Davis loves a tough team that plays good defense. His Rebels have been that team this season, starting off as one of the best defensive squads in college basketball. Ole Miss kept its first four opponents under 60 points, accomplishing the feat for the first time since the 1944-45 season (76 years). The Rebels allowed their fewest points (316) over the first six games of the season since the 1980-81 campaign (307). Overall, Ole Miss is at the top of the SEC and the country in several defensive categories.

Category	Stat	SEC Rank	NCAA Rank
Turnovers Forced	17.8	2nd	17th
Turnover Margin	+4.0	2nd	28th
Scoring Defense	62.6	2nd	29th

BENCH STEPS UP
Over the past three games, the Ole Miss bench has stepped up in a major way. It started with last week's 72-61 victory over Auburn (Jan. 6) in which the Rebels' bench outscored the Tigers' bench 34-9. Khadim Sy scored a team-high 13 points, matching his season total heading into the contest. Austin Crowley brought down a team-high 10 rebounds off the bench, easily passing his previous career high of four, to go along with a career-high four steals. Against LSU Saturday (Jan. 9), Crowley came off the bench to score a team-high 10 points, his most ever in an SEC game. The bench recorded 35 of the Rebels' 61 points with all six bench players appearing in the contest scoring at least two points. Romello White became the third Rebel in as many games to score double digits off the bench, tallying 10 at Florida on Tuesday. Over the first eight games of the season, the Ole Miss bench accounted for 29.6 percent of the team's points. Since then (three games), that production has increased to 49.5 percent of the Rebels' scoring.

HOME COOKIN'
When the Rebels were victorious at home last season, they won in dominating fashion. Eleven of Ole Miss' 12 wins in The Pavilion were by double digits, outscoring the opposition by an average of 18.5 ppg (77.5-59.0). The Rebels finished with a 12-5 record at home last season. That trend continued into the 2020-21 season with five victories by an average of 25.4 points.

Opponent	Final	Margin of Victory
Jackson State	80-45	+35
UNCW	78-58	+20
Central Arkansas	68-54	+14
UT Martin	90-43	+47
Auburn	72-61	+11

PROTECTING CRADDOCK COURT
Winning at home has been a trademark at Ole Miss. Over the past 15 seasons, the Rebels are 171-54 (.757 win pct.) in home games. In five-plus seasons (opened January 2016) playing in the $96.5 million Pavilion at Ole Miss, the Rebels hold a 58-28 (.674) advantage against the opposition. Ole Miss has won 296 of its last 382 games (.775 win pct.) in Oxford dating back to the 1996-97 campaign. Under head coach Kermit Davis, the Rebels are 28-12 (.700 win pct.) at home.

PAVILION ATTENDANCE
In accordance with the State of Mississippi's most recent executive order in response to COVID-19, capacity at The Pavilion at Ole Miss has been reduced to 10 percent for Rebel basketball games.

SHULER STEALS
Senior Devontae Shuler is rising up the program's all-time steals list with 162 career steals. Getting two steals against Auburn (Jan. 6), he passed Gerald Glass (159) to move into fifth in Ole Miss history. Averaging 1.8 steals per game, Shuler ranks sixth in the SEC. He is 10 steals away from tying Jason Harrison for fourth in Ole Miss history. After finishing second on the team in steals as a freshman (32), Shuler produced 56 steals his second year in Oxford, the most ever by an Ole Miss sophomore and seventh-most by any Rebel in a single season. He led the team last year as well, compiling 54 (1.7 per game) throughout the 2019-20 campaign.

NUGGETS FROM LAST WEEK'S WIN OVER AUBURN
- Ole Miss beat Auburn 72-61 in its SEC home opener, beating the Tigers for the 13th time in the past 17 matchups.
- The Rebel bench outscored Auburn's bench 34-9.
- Devontae Shuler dished out 10 assists, the most by a Rebel since Jarvis Summers had 10 in the NCAA Tournament First Four game versus BYU (March 17, 2015).
- Khadim Sy scored a team-high 13 points off the bench; Sy had 13 points on the season entering the game.
- Sy went 3 for 3 from beyond the arc for a new career high in threes made; he went into the game 8 of 29 (27.6 percent) for his career.
- Austin Crowley brought down a team-high 10 rebounds off the bench, easily passing his previous career high of four.; he also added a career-high four steals.
- Freshman Matthew Murrell made his first career start.

MELLO'S WORLD
Graduate transfer Romello White has brought his toughness and physicality to Oxford, dominating the post. The Arizona State transfer is averaging 11.5 ppg and 6.0 rpg, ranking second on the team in both categories. He leads the team in scoring against SEC competition, averaging 11.5 ppg in conference play as well. White has been unstoppable down low, making 47 of his 71 attempts for a 66.2 percent clip. With 13 blocks over the first 11 games, White leads Ole Miss in blocks. 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 (Dec. 12). 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. In his first SEC Game, at Alabama (Dec. 29), White had his best game as a Rebel with team highs in points (20) and rebounds (11). It marked the 17th double-double of his career, his first in an Ole Miss uniform.

CONTROLLING THE PAINT
Ole Miss has dominated the paint in wins, outscoring opponents by an average of 20.4 points (37.7-17.3). Here's a look at paint points for each victory.

	Ole Miss	Opponent
vs. Jackson State	38	14
vs. UNCW	50	20
vs. Central Arkansas	22	18
at Middle Tennessee	48	16
vs. UT Martin	40	14
vs. Auburn	28	22

SHULER TAKES COMMAND
With All-SEC guards Terence Davis and Breein Tyree graduated and continuing their careers in the professional ranks, Devontae Shuler has become the Rebels' leader. Shuler paces the team in scoring (13.2 ppg) and assists (4.0 per game), while producing three 20-point games so far this season. His 1.9 assist/turnover ratio ranks second in the SEC. The Irmo, South Carolina, native has also found success at the line, going 26 of 30 (86.7 percent) on the season. In the win over Auburn (Jan. 6), Shuler's career-high 10 assists were the most by a Rebel since Jarvis Summers dished out 10 in the NCAA Tournament win over BYU (March 17, 2015).

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 (7.1 per game) and steals (2.0 per game), while ranking second in assists (2.5 per game). His 22 steals lead the SEC, while his 7.1 rebounds per game rank eighth. In the win over UNCW (Dec. 12), Rodriguez produced his first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. He pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds at Dayton (Dec. 19), the most by a Rebel since Sebastian Saiz pulled down 15 in the NIT quarterfinals versus Georgia Tech (March 21, 2017).

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 444 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 510 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.

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.

NEXT ON THE HARDWOOD
Up next, the Rebels head to Starkville for a rivalry game against Mississippi State (Jan. 19). Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network. It will be the first of two scheduled matchups with the Bulldogs, the second slated for February 20 in Oxford.

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Players Mentioned

Austin Crowley

Matthew Murrell

Luis Rodriguez

Devontae Shuler

Khadim Sy

Breein Tyree

Dimencio Vaughn

Romello White

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