Men's Basketball Remains on Road, Facing Georgia Saturday

			OLE MISS (8-7, 3-5 SEC) at GEORGIA (9-6, 2-6 SEC) Saturday, Jan. 30 • 5 p.m. • Athens, Ga. Stegeman Coliseum
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GAME 16
Date: Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021
Time: 5 p.m. CT
Location: Athens, Ga.
Arena: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)
Television: SEC Network
   Dave Neal, play-by-play
   Jon Sundvold, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss Sports Network (XM-381, Internet-971)
   David Kellum, play-by-play
   Marc Dukes, analyst
Live Video: ESPN.com/ESPN app
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com/TuneIn app
Series: Georgia leads 75-45
Last Meeting: Jan. 16, 2021
   Georgia won 78-74
   Oxford, Miss.

TIPOFF TIDBITS
- Ole Miss is in the midst of a stretch playing three of four games on the road.
- The Rebels face Georgia for the second time in two weeks; the Bulldogs won the first meeting 78-74 thanks to shooting 75 percent (18 of 24) in the second half.
- Devontae Shuler (24) and Jarkel Joiner (22) scored their season highs in the first matchup with the Bulldogs.
- Ole Miss is 2-0 at Stegeman Coliseum under Kermit Davis.
- Ole Miss forwards KJ Buffen and Romello White return to their home state.
- The Rebels are coming off a 74-59 road setback to Arkansas, their first loss in three games.
- Against the Razorbacks, Devontae Shuler made all nine of his two-point shots and finished with 19 points.
- Jarkel Joiner scored 11 points at Arkansas and became the fourth Rebel on the team to have 1,000 points over his Division I career, joining Dimencio Vaughn (1,266), Devontae Shuler (1,134) and Romello White (1,075).
- Ole Miss is 7-0 when holding opponents under 40 percent from the floor.
- The Rebels have limited four opponents to 50 points or less this season, accomplishing the feat for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
- All eight of Ole Miss' wins this season have been by double digits (average margin of victory: 21.9); three of the Rebels' seven losses have been by four points or less.
- Dating back to the 2019-20 season, 20 of the Rebels' last 23 wins have been by double digits.
- After scoring just 17 points total (5.7 ppg) in the first three SEC games, Devontae Shuler has scored at least 17 points in each of the past five conference contests (20.2 ppg).
- The duo of Jarkel Joiner and Devontae Shuler has accounted for 148 of the team's 258 points (57.4 percent) over the past four games; Shuler has averaged 20.5 ppg, while Joiner has recorded 16.5 ppg.
- Luis Rodriguez has 10 multi-steal games this season.
- Devontae Shuler (156) is two made three-pointers away from tying Todd Abernethy (158) for 10th in program history; Abernethy was an assistant coach at Ole Miss during Shuler's freshman season.

SEC LEADERS
- The Rebels rank second in scoring defense (62.5), turnover margin (+3.5) and turnovers forced per game (16.9).
- Ole Miss is allowing 67.2 ppg in conference games, which also ranks second in the SEC.
- Ole Miss is the only SEC team to have two players ranked in the conference's top five in steals; Devontae Shuler (1.8 per game) ranks third, while Luis Rodriguez (1.7 per game) is fourth.
- Shuler ranks second with a 1.8 assist/turnover ratio.
- Shuler is the SEC's active leader in career points (1,134), career steals (169) and career assists (297).

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
- Georgia enters Saturday's contest with a 9-6 (2-6 SEC) record after back-to-back losses to Florida (92-84) and South Carolina (83-59).
- Saturday's matchup will be between the SEC's best when it comes to forcing turnovers; Georgia paces the conference, forcing 17.4 per game, while the Rebels are close behind at 16.9 per game.
- K.D. Johnson leads Georgia in scoring (15.0 ppg), one of five Bulldogs averaging double figures.
- Sahvir Wheeler (13.5 ppg) is dishing out 7.5 assists per game to lead the SEC and rank fifth nationally; Wheeler's five double-doubles also top the conference.
- 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 121st meeting between the two schools as Georgia holds a 75-45 lead in the series. Ole Miss is 3-2 against the Bulldogs under Kermit Davis, including a perfect 2-0 record at Stegeman Coliseum. Prior to back-to-back victories by Georgia, the Rebels won three straight in the series for the first time since taking four in a row from 1988-90. The series has been close as of late with Georgia holding a slight 12-11 edge over the past 23 contests on the hardwood.

TWO WEEKS AGO
Valiant efforts from Devontae Shuler and Jarkel Joiner couldn't quite get Ole Miss out of a 15-point second half hole as they fell short against Georgia 78-74 at The Pavilion (Jan. 16). Trailing by 12 with four minutes remaining, the Rebels got it within one possession before the Bulldogs made their free throws to prevent the complete comeback. Shuler led all scorers with a season-high 24 points on 9 of 19 shooting and 4 of 8 from beyond the arc, adding eight assists as well. Joiner had his first 20-point game as a Rebel with 22 points on 9 of 17 shooting. KJ Buffen and Romello White each added eight points, while Buffen had a team-high six rebounds. As a team, Ole Miss shot 51 percent (31 of 61) from the floor. Starting out 1 of 15 from three, the Rebels made six in a row to help spark a rally. Despite a dominant 33-24 edge on the glass, the Bulldogs shot 59 percent for the game, including a 75 percent mark (18 of 24) in the second half. Four Bulldogs had double figures with Tye Fagan leading the way, scoring 19 points and going perfect on 9 of 9 shooting.

LAST YEAR IN ATHENS
In front of a sold-out crowd at Stegeman Coliseum, Ole Miss shook off a hostile environment and earned a hard-fought 70-60 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs (Jan. 25, 2020). The Rebels shot 52.0 percent from the field while holding the 2020 NBA Draft No. 1 pick, Anthony Edwards, to just 13 points on 3 of 12 shooting to control the game and pick up the road win. Breein Tyree scored 20 points to pace Ole Miss offensively, his 10th game this season with 20 or more. The frontcourt duo of Khadim Sy and KJ Buffen combined for 30 points as well. Sy battled down low, scoring 16 points on 6 of 12 shooting. In a return to his home state, Buffen added 14 points. The Gainesville, Georgia, native made 5 of 6 from the field, while making all four of his free throws. The Rebels dominated points in the paint, 38-20. Ole Miss held Georgia to a 30.9 field goal percentage (17 of 55). Edwards' 13 points led the way for the Bulldogs, although it was seven points below his season average.

GEORGIA REBELS
KJ Buffen (Gainesville) and Romello White (Atlanta) are the two Rebels that hail from the state of Georgia.

DYNAMIC DUO
The dynamic duo of Jarkel Joiner and Devontae Shuler has scored 148 of the team's 258 points (57.4 percent) over the past four games. Both Rebels have reached double figures in each contest with Shuler averaging 20.5 ppg and Joiner adding 16.5 ppg during the stretch. The pair put together 20-point games against Georgia (Jan. 16), season highs for both guards. Shuler led the way with 24 points, while Joiner added 22. In a rivalry road contest, Shuler's game-high 22 points, along with Joiner's 12 points, allowed Ole Miss to cruise to a 64-46 victory over Mississippi State (Jan. 19). The roles were reversed against Texas A&M (Jan. 23) with Joiner leading the way. The Oxford, Mississippi, native tallied 21 points, while Shuler was close behind with 17 points in the 61-50 win. The two were the only Rebels to reach double figures in both victorious contests. Against Arkansas, Shuler's 19 points were a team high with Joiner adding 11 as he passed the 1,000-point mark for his career.

1K REBELS
Four Rebels have scored at least 1,000 points over their Division I careers. Jarkel Joiner (1,008) was the latest Rebel to join the club with one of his first half jumpers at Arkansas (Jan. 27). Devontae Shuler (1,134) and Romello White (1,075) both cracked four digits in the SEC opener at Alabama (Dec. 29). Dimencio Vaughn (1,266) is the team's active leader in career points after recording 1,239 during his time at Rider.

DEVONTAE DOING DAMAGE
After getting off to a slow start in SEC play, scoring a total of 17 points (5.7 ppg) over the first three games, Devontae Shuler has exploded to return to the player that the Rebels have relied on all season long. The senior guard has scored at least 17 points in each of the past five conference games, averaging 20.2 ppg over the stretch.

	Points	FG	FG%	3FG	3FG%	FT	FT%
Jan. 12 at Florida	19	7-14	50.0	2-5	40.0	3-3	100
Jan. 16 vs. Georgia	24	9-19	47.4	3-5	60.0	2-3	66.7
Jan. 19 at MSU	22	8-13	61.5	4-8	50.0	3-4	75.0
Jan. 23 vs. Texas A&M	17	6-15	40.0	3-8	37.5	2-2	100
Jan. 27 at Arkansas	19	9-12	75.0	0-3	0.0	1-2	50.0
TOTAL	101	39-73	53.4	12-29	41.4	11-14	78.6

ON THIS DATE: TWO WINS OVER RANKED OPPONENTS
- Jan. 30, 2008: Chris Warren scored 20 points, Eniel Polynice added 18 and Ole Miss' freshmen had one of their best games of the season as the No. 22 Rebels rolled past No. 18 Vanderbilt 74-58. Improving to 16-3 on the season, Ole Miss tied the school mark for best start through 19 games.
- Jan. 30, 1999: Keith Carter tied a career-high with 33 points as the Rebels beat No. 21 Arkansas 89-81. The victory gave Ole Miss a regular season sweep of the nationally-ranked Razorbacks after snapping Arkansas' 30-game homecourt winning streak earlier that month. Carter and the Rebels would go on to make the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the second round in Rod Barnes' first season as head coach.

LOCKDOWN DEFENSE
Head coach Kermit Davis loves a team that plays good defense with toughness. The Rebels have put up some historical defensive numbers so far this season, while ranking 23rd in turnovers forced (16.9 per game) and 28th nationally in scoring defense (62.5).
- With wins over Mississippi State (64-46) and Texas A&M (61-50), held SEC opponents to 50 points or less in back-to-back games for the first time since 1980
- Four games surrendering 50 points or less (first time since 2011-12 season)
- Kept first four opponents under 60 points, accomplishing the feat for the first time since the 1944-45 season (76 years)
- Fewest points allowed (316) over the first six games of the season since the 1980-81 campaign (307)

WINNING BIG
When the Rebels win, they win big.
- All eight victories this season have been by double digits with an average margin of victory 21.9 points.
- Dating back to last season, 20 of the 23 wins are double-digit victories.
- Every SEC win over the past two seasons (2019-20, 2020-21) has been by at least eight points with eight of them being double-digit victories; the average margin of victory in the conference games is 15.4 points.

SHULER TAKES COMMAND
With All-SEC guards Terence Davis and Breein Tyree graduated and both continuing their careers in the Toronto Raptors organization, Devontae Shuler has become the Rebels' leader. Shuler paces the team in scoring (15.1 ppg), assists (3.9 per game) and steals (1.8 per game), while producing five 20-point games so far this season. His 1.8 assist/turnover ratio ranks second in the SEC. 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). He scored a season-high 24 points against Georgia (Jan. 16) and followed up that performance with 22 points to lead the Rebels to a rivalry victory over MSU (Jan. 19).

HOMETOWN REB
No matter what his role is, starting in the backcourt or providing a spark off the bench, Jarkel Joiner makes an impact for his hometown team. In his first season in an Ole Miss uniform, the Oxford, Mississippi native has bumped his scoring average to 13.1 ppg during conference games, second only to fellow guard Devontae Shuler (14.8 ppg). He came off the bench in the first four SEC contests before starting against Georgia (Jan. 16), leading to his best game as a Rebel. Knocking down 9 of 17 from the floor, Joiner helped lead a second half comeback that ultimately fell short. His effort concluded with a season-high 22 points. In last week's win over MSU (Jan. 19), his first game in the rivalry, Joiner helped lead Ole Miss to victory with 12 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a career-high two blocks. He followed that performance with a game-high 21 points in a win over Texas A&M (Jan. 23), his second 20-point night over a three-game stretch. On Wednesday at Arkansas, Joiner knocked down a jumper with eight minutes left in the first half to put him over 1,000 points for his career.

SHULER STEALS
Senior Devontae Shuler is rising up the program's all-time steals list with 169 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 third in the SEC. He is three 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.

MELLO'S WORLD
Graduate transfer Romello White has brought his toughness and physicality to Oxford, dominating the post. The Arizona State transfer is averaging 9.9 ppg and 5.5 rpg. White has been a force down low, making 54 of his 83 attempts for a 65.1 percent clip. With 18 blocks over 15 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.

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 (6.5 per game), while ranking second in assists (2.1 per game) and steals (1.7 per game). He is fourth in the SEC in steals with the help of 10 multi-steal games. 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).

THROWBACK UNIFORMS
Ole Miss donned some special throwback uniforms in the win over Texas A&M (Jan. 23), honoring the 2000-01 team and its 20th anniversary of a run to the Sweet 16. Led by SEC Coach of the Year Rod Barnes along with All-SEC honorees Jason Harrison, Rahim Lockhart and Justin Reed, the Rebels went 27-8 to set a school record for wins in a single season. That mark included an 11-5 record in conference play for an SEC Western Division title. In the Big Dance, Ole Miss narrowly escaped past Iona 72-70 before upsetting No. 19 Notre Dame 59-56. Trailing to the Fighting Irish with 48 seconds to go and the shot clock winding down, Harrison nailed a three to give the Rebels the lead for good to put them in the Sweet 16 for the first time ever. The team's run ended with a loss to Arizona, the eventual national runner-up.

INSIDE THE RIVALRY VICTORY
Ole Miss had a big road win over rival Mississippi State last week (Jan. 19). Here are some other notable nuggets from the 64-46 victory.
- Ole Miss beat MSU for the 11th time in the past 15 matchups.
- The 46 points were the fewest the Rebels have allowed in the rivalry since Feb. 25, 1995.
- It was also the fewest Ole Miss has allowed in an SEC game since Feb. 6, 2004 (55-45 win over Arkansas).
- It was just the 12th time over the past 20 seasons that the Rebels kept an SEC opponent under 50 points, including just the third time it happened on the road.
- Devontae Shuler scored 22 points, his 11th career 20-point game and fifth of the season.
- Dimencio Vaughn scored seven points off the bench, his most as a Rebel.
- Shuler recorded three steals, his fourth game this season with at least three steals.
- The win marked the sixth time since 2010 the Rebels won an SEC road game by at least 15 points, including the second under 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 446 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 512 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 a week on the road, Ole Miss returns home to face the nationally-ranked Tennessee Volunteers (Feb. 2). Tipoff from The Pavilion is slated for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

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Players Mentioned

KJ Buffen

Jarkel Joiner

Luis Rodriguez

Devontae Shuler

Khadim Sy

Breein Tyree

Dimencio Vaughn

Romello White

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