Men's Hoops Remains at Home to Battle Auburn

			OLE MISS (5-3, 0-1 SEC) vs. AUBURN (6-4, 0-2 SEC) Wednesday, Jan. 6 • 8 p.m. • Oxford, Miss. The Pavilion at Ole Miss
Watch • Live Stats • Listen • Gameday Info/COVID Guidelines Ole Miss Game Notes • Auburn Notes • SEC Game Notes

GAME 9
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021
Time: 8 p.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Arena: The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500)
Television: SEC Network
   Roy Philpott, play-by-play
   Mark Wise, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss Sports Network (XM-192, Internet-963)
   Eli Savoie, play-by-play
   Marc Dukes, analyst
Live Video: ESPN.com/ESPN app
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com/TuneIn app
Series: Auburn leads 77-62
Last Meeting: Feb. 25, 2020
   #15 Auburn won 67-58
   Auburn, Ala.

TIPOFF TIDBITS
- Ole Miss has won 12 of the last 16 matchups versus Auburn; the Rebels won 10 straight from 2012-17.
- The last time the Rebels faced the Tigers in The Pavilion, Devontae Shuler scored a team-high 26 points (Jan. 28, 2020) in a double OT thriller; it was the first double overtime game in the history of The Pavilion.
- The Rebels are in the midst of a three-game homestand and have a 4-1 record in The Pavilion this season.
- Ole Miss is the only SEC team to play at least three road games this season.
- The Rebels have outscored opponents by an average of 79.0-56.6 at home (+22.4 scoring margin).
- Ole Miss ranks 12th in the country in turnover forced per game (19.3); the Rebels have forced at least 15 turnovers in all eight games this season.
- Luis Rodriguez leads the SEC with a 3.1 assist/turnover ratio, ranking 31st nationally.
- Luis Rodriguez and Devontae Shuler are the only two players in the SEC to rank top 10 in the conference in both steals and assist/turnover ratio.
- Devontae Shuler has 158 career steals to rank sixth in program history, just one away from tying Gerald Glass to crack the top five.
- KJ Buffen has scored in double figures in each of the past five contests, the longest active streak on the team; Buffen is averaging 14.4 ppg over the stretch following a season-high 18 points against Wichita State on Saturday.
- Devontae Shuler (1,024) is 13 points away from passing Todd Abernethy (1,036) for 40th on the Ole Miss all-time scoring list; Abernethy was an assistant coach at Ole Miss when Shuler was a freshman.
- Romello White nearly averaged a double-double over last week's games (15.5 ppg, 9.0 rpg).
- Devontae Shuler made a career-high six three-pointers against Wichita State, the most threes by a Rebel since Breein Tyree made eight against Middle Tennessee last season (Dec. 14, 2019).
- Ole Miss has led at the half in seven of its eight games this season.
- Over their five victories, the Rebels are outscoring opponents in the paint by an average of 39.6-16.4.
- Dating back to the 2019-20 season, 17 of the Rebels' last 20 wins have been by double digits.

LEADING THE NATION
- Having forced at least 15 turnovers in all eight games this season, Ole Miss ranks 12th nationally in turnovers forced per game (19.3).
- The Rebels are the nation's 16th-best scoring defense, averaging only 60.1 ppg.
- Ole Miss' +5.1 turnover margin ranks 18th in the country.

SEC LEADERS
- Ole Miss leads the SEC in turnovers forced (19.3).
- The Rebels rank second in scoring defense (60.1) and turnover margin (+5.1).
- Luis Rodriguez leads the SEC in assist/turnover ratio (3.1), while ranking third in steals (2.1).
- Devontae Shuler ranks fourth in the SEC in steals (2.0) and ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.4).
- Rodriguez and Shuler are the only two players in the SEC to rank in the conference's top 10 for both assist/turnover ratio and steals.
- Shuler is the SEC's active leader in career points (1,024), career steals (158) and career assists (266).
- Shuler is shooting 84.0 percent from the line, good enough for third in the conference.
- Romello White ranks fifth in blocks (1.6).

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
- Auburn enters Wednesday's matchup with a 6-4 record, including 0-2 in SEC play following a narrow loss to Texas A&M.
- The Tigers lead the SEC in threes, making 10.3 per game.
- Four Tigers average double figures led by Allen Flanigan (14.5 ppg).
- Along with averaging 11.7 ppg, Justin Powell ranks second in the SEC with 4.7 assists per game and also leads the team in rebounds (6.1 per game).
- Bruce Pearl is in his seventh season as the Tigers' head coach.

SERIES HISTORY
Auburn leads the all-time series 77-62, but the Rebels have won 12 and the past 16 over the Tigers and 15 of the past 21. Prior to Auburn sweeping Ole Miss in 2018, the Rebels had a 10-game winning streak in the series. It was the longest in school history against an SEC foe, bettering a pair of eight-game streaks against LSU and Mississippi State. During the winning streak, five of the Rebels' victories occurred in Oxford, four in Auburn and one at the SEC Tournament (2012). Ole Miss avenged the 2018 series with a sweep of its own in 2019, beating the Tigers twice before they made their run to the Final Four. Auburn countered with a sweep last season, but Ole Miss holds a 42-25 series advantage in Oxford.

LAST YEAR'S THRILLER IN THE PAVILION
A back-and-forth battle at The Pavilion needed 50 minutes of play before deciding a winner, coming down to the final second. In the end, an Ole Miss three at the buzzer did not fall as the Rebels suffered a heartbreaking double overtime defeat to No. 16 Auburn 83-82 (Jan. 28, 2020). Devontae Shuler led the Rebels, especially down the stretch after Breein Tyree fouled out with five minutes left in regulation. The Irmo, South Carolina, native scored 26 points to go along with team highs in assists (5) and steals (3). Shuler tallied half of his points at the charity stripe, going 13 of 18, while shooting 6 of 10 from the field. Playing a career-high 48 minutes, he showed his stamina by scoring nine of the Rebels' points during the two overtime periods. In the post, Khadim Sy tallied 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while KJ Buffen scored 10 points. Both forwards were on the floor for 37 minutes apiece.

ON THIS DATE
- Jan. 6, 2018: Behind a stifling 1-3-1 zone defense and 16 second-half points from Breein Tyree, Ole Miss erased a nine-point deficit in the final eight minutes to continue its winning ways against Mississippi State. The Rebels outscored the Bulldogs 20-5 over the final 7:40 to claim a 64-58 victory inside The Pavilion.
- Jan. 6, 2001: The Rebels won their first SEC road game in nearly two years, breaking a string of 11 straight league road losses, by beating Vanderbilt 81-68. Ole Miss improved to 13-1 for the first time in 75 years. Due to an illness that prevented him from starting for the first time that season, freshman Justin Reed came off the bench to score a team-high 19 points. Later that season, Ole Miss captured the SEC Western Division title before advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.

NO. 2 AGAINST AUBURN
Devontae Shuler has had some of his biggest games against Auburn. He averages 13.3 ppg when facing the Tigers, his best career scoring average against any SEC team. Over the past two seasons (four games), the guard has averaged 14.5 ppg versus Auburn. Going against the Tigers last season in The Pavilion, Shuler put the team on his back, playing 48 minutes and scoring 26 points (a career high at the time) in a double overtime thriller.

TOUGH 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 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	19.3	1st	12th
Scoring Defense	60.1	2nd	16th
Turnover Margin	+5.1	2nd	18th

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 shot 49.9 percent in home victories. Meanwhile, Ole Miss held the opposition to 36.8 percent, including just 24.3 percent from three-point range. The Rebels finished with a 12-5 record at home last season. That trend continued into the 2020-21 season with four big victories by an average of 29 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

PROTECTING CRADDOCK COURT
Winning at home has been a trademark at Ole Miss. Over the past 15 seasons, the Rebels are 170-53 (.762 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 57-27 (.679) advantage against the opposition. Ole Miss has won 295 of its last 380 games (.776 win pct.) in Oxford dating back to the 1996-97 campaign. Under head coach Kermit Davis, the Rebels are 27-11 (.711 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 through at least January 15.

1K REBELS
In the SEC opener at Alabama (Dec. 29), a pair of Rebels went over 1,000 points for their respective careers. Devontae Shuler had a breakaway dunk in the first half to reach 1,000 and now has 1,024 career points, all at Ole Miss. Shuler became the 41st Rebel to score at least 1,000 points in an Ole Miss uniform. Romello White matched his teammate later in the first half before finishing with a team-high 20 points. White has 1,027 points over his career with 927 of them coming at Arizona State.

SHULER STEALS
Senior Devontae Shuler is rising up the program's all-time steals list. With three steals against Wichita State (Jan. 2), he passed Joe Ayers for sixth (157). With 158 steals over his career, Shuler is one away from cracking the top five and tying Gerald Glass (159). 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 season.

MELLO'S WORLD
Graduate transfer Romello White has brought his toughness and physicality to Oxford, dominating the post. The Arizona State transfer is averaging 12.5 ppg and 7.3 rpg, ranking second on the team in both categories. He has been unstoppable down low, making 38 of his 55 attempts for a 69.1 percent clip. With 12 blocks over the first eight games, White sits fifth 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 (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 but his first in an Ole Miss uniform.

BUFFEN STEPPING UP
KJ Buffen did not score double figures in any of the first three games of the season, but he's accomplished the feat in each of the past five contests for the longest active streak on the team. The Gainesville, Georgia, native is averaging 14.4 ppg over the span following a season-high 18 points versus Wichita State (Jan. 2).

CONTROLLING THE PAINT
Ole Miss has dominated the paint in wins, outscoring opponents by 22.5 points (39.5-17). 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

SHULER TAKES COMMAND
With Terence Davis and Breein Tyree, All-SEC guards from the previous two seasons, graduated and continuing their careers in the professional ranks, Devontae Shuler has become the Rebels' leader. Shuler paces the team in scoring (14.6 ppg) and assists (3.4 per game), while producing three 20-point games so far this season. His 2.0 steals per game rank fourth in the SEC. The Irmo, South Carolina, native has also found success at the line, going 21 of 25 (84.0 percent) on the young season, good enough for third in the conference.

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 (7.8 per game) and steals (2.1 per game), while ranking second in assists (3.1 per game). He leads the SEC with a 3.1 assist/turnover ratio, while his 2.1 steals per game rank third and his 7.8 rebounds per game rank sixth. 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 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 443 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 509 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.

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 Dec. 10, Ole Miss was the final Power 5 team (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) to start its season. Ole Miss wasted no time in getting games in, playing four over a one-week span. The Rebels' first six games were over 13 days.

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, Ole Miss concludes the three-game homestand by welcoming South Carolina to The Pavilion (Jan. 9). Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

RebelsCalendar

Players Mentioned

KJ Buffen

Luis Rodriguez

Devontae Shuler

Khadim Sy

Breein Tyree

Romello White

The University of Mississippi Athletics