Ole Miss Hoops Welcomes Another Top 10 Team to The Pavilion Wednesday

			OLE MISS (10-8, 5-6 SEC) vs. #10 MISSOURI (13-3, 6-3 SEC) Wednesday, Feb. 10 • 8 p.m. • Oxford, Miss. The Pavilion at Ole Miss
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GAME 19
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021
Time: 8 p.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Arena: The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500)
Television: SEC Network
   Mike Morgan, play-by-play
   Debbie Antonelli, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss Sports Network (XM-190, Internet-961)
   David Kellum, play-by-play
   Marc Dukes, analyst
Live Video: ESPN.com/ESPN app
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com/TuneIn app
Series: Ole Miss leads 13-3
Last Meeting: March 4, 2020
   Ole Miss won 75-67
   Oxford, Miss.

TIPOFF TIDBITS
- Ole Miss and Missouri begin a home-and-home series for the sixth straight season.
- Wednesday's matchup will also be a battle between SEC Co-Players of the Week, Devontae Shuler and Dru Smith.
- Ole Miss has won 13 of the 16 games in the series.
- The Rebels are 3-3 in Quadrant 1 games this season, which includes victories in the past two contests against No. 10 Tennessee and at Auburn; Ole Miss is one of only four teams with at least three Quadrant 1 wins.
- Both of Ole Miss' wins last week were comebacks from double digits in the second half; the Rebels trailed by as many as 11 against Tennessee 14 at Auburn in the second half.
- Ole Miss has three top 15 victories in three seasons under Kermit Davis, including a pair of top 10 wins.
- The Rebels are searching for their second top 10 victory of the season, looking to accomplish the feat for the first time since 2000-01.
- Ole Miss has beaten three ranked teams on February 10 throughout program history.
- Devontae Shuler's buzzer-beating jumper, part of his season-high 26 points, lifted the Rebels to a thrilling 86-84 overtime win at Auburn on Saturday.
- With a career-high 30 points and 10 rebounds at Auburn, Romello White became the first Rebel to record a double-double with at least 30 points since Justin Reed in 2004.
- Combining for 56 of the Rebels' 86 points Saturday, Romello White (30) and Devontae Shuler (26) became the first Ole Miss duo to score 25 points apiece since 2009.
- The Rebels lead the SEC and rank 17th nationally in turnovers forced per game (17.0); Ole Miss has forced at least 15 turnovers in 14 games this season.
- Ole Miss is 8-0 when keeping opponents under 40 percent from the floor.
- Ole Miss is the only team in the country to have four 1,000 point scorers: Dimencio Vaughn (1,266), Devontae Shuler (1,186), Romello White (1,127) and Jarkel Joiner (1,037).
- Devontae Shuler celebrated his 23rd birthday on Tuesday.

HONORING A TRAILBLAZER: OLE MISS ERECTING STATUE OF COOLIDGE BALL
Fifty years ago, Coolidge Ball broke down walls at the University of Mississippi. On May 15, Ole Miss' first Black student-athlete will be celebrated with a life-size, bronze likeness erected in the north plaza of The Pavilion. On August 6, 1970, Ball signed the Rebels' last available basketball scholarship for that season. The Indianola, Mississippi, native was recruited by other schools such as Arizona State, Northwestern and New Mexico State, but his decision to attend Ole Miss opened the door for future Black student-athletes to make their way to the Oxford campus to wear the Red and Blue, not just in basketball, but other sports as well. Ball's ground-breaking career at Ole Miss saw him earn first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors from the league coaches in 1972 and 1973. He also earned second-team All-SEC honors from the Associated Press in 1972 and 1973, was selected to the United Press International third team during all three of his varsity seasons (1972-73-74) and made the All-SEC Freshman team in 1970-71.His first varsity season came his sophomore year when he averaged 16.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, while leading the team with 42 assists. He scored a career-high 30 points against Vanderbilt and LSU that season and added a career-high 19-rebound performance against Southern Miss. Ball was instrumental in helping Ole Miss defeat SEC rivals Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi State in consecutive games in 1973. He scored 1,072 points during his varsity career, helped lead the Rebels to three straight winning seasons for the first time since 1936-38 and was one of the team's most respected players, earning team captain and MVP honors. A 1975 graduate of the University of Mississippi, Ball was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Ole Miss Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991 and was a member of the SEC Basketball Legends Class of 2005. When the University of Mississippi celebrated its "First 100 Years of Ole Miss Basketball" in 2009, it came as no surprise when Ball was selected to the All-Century Team.

SEC LEADERS
- Ole Miss leads the SEC in turnovers forced per game (17.0).
- The Rebels rank second in scoring defense (63.4) and turnover margin (+3.2).
- Devontae Shuler ranks fourth in the SEC with a 1.6 assist/turnover ratio.
- Shuler and Luis Rodriguez rank fifth in steals, averaging 1.7 per game; Ole Miss is the only team to have two players rank in the conference's top five.
- Shuler is the SEC's active leader in career points (1,186), career steals (173) and career assists (303).

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
- Missouri enters Wednesday's matchup ranked 10th in both national polls after wins over Kentucky (75-70) and No. 10 Alabama (68-65).
- Four Tigers average double figures led by Xavier Pinson (14.7 ppg).
- Dru Smith, the SEC Co-Player of the Week alongside Devontae Shuler, adds 14.0 ppg after averaging 21.0 ppg over the two wins last week.
- Jeremiah Tilmon (13.3 ppg) tops the SEC and ranks eighth nationally by shooting 63.1 percent from the floor; Tilmon also leads Missouri in rebounding (7.9 per game).
- Cuonzo Martin is in his fourth season as Missouri's head coach after previous stops at Cal and Tennessee.

SERIES HISTORY
Ole Miss and Missouri have met just 16 times with all 16 meetings coming since the Tigers joined the SEC in 2012-13. The Rebels lead the all-time series 13-3. Ole Miss and Mizzou have squared off seven times in Oxford, with the Rebels holding a 6-1 advantage that includes a 4-1 mark in The Pavilion. Ole Miss won at home last year, 75-67, while the Tigers protected their home floor in Columbia to split the season series. Missouri's lone victory in Oxford occurred Feb. 6, 2018. The two teams are playing a home-and-home series for the sixth consecutive season.

LAST TIME WE MET
Playing his final game in The Pavilion, Breein Tyree made sure his Senior Night was a victorious one. The senior guard scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the second half, breaking a tie and leading the Rebels to a 75-67 victory over a scrappy Missouri team (March 4, 2020). With the Tigers throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him for 40 minutes, Tyree had one of the most efficient games of his career. He shot 6 of 9 from the floor, while making all six of his free throw attempts. The Somerset, New Jersey, native distributed the ball as well with a team-high five assists. KJ Buffen produced his second double-double of the season, recording 13 points with a team-high 10 rebounds. Khadim Sy also reached double figures with 12 points. The Rebels tied a season high with 25 made free throws, finishing 25 of 33 (75.8 percent) after making their first 18.

WINS OVER TOP 15 TEAMS
After last week's victory over No. 10 Tennessee, the Rebels have beaten three top 15 teams under Kermit Davis. The other upsets happened in back-to-back games during the 2018-19 season. Ole Miss first knocked off No. 10 Auburn at home, 82-67 (Jan. 9, 2019), before going on the road to upset No. 14 Mississippi State 81-77 (Jan. 12, 2019). The two top 15 victories in Davis' first season vaulted Ole Miss into the top 25 for the first time in six years.

IT COULD HAPPEN AGAIN
Ole Miss has defeated a No. 10 Missouri team before, and it happened eight years ago. Murphy Holloway scored a game-high 22 points to lead Ole Miss to a surprisingly easy 64-49 victory over No. 10 Missouri (Jan. 12, 2013). Jarvis Summers added 12 points. He and Holloway helped offset a mediocre night from Marshall Henderson, the SEC's leading scorer at the time, who finished with 11 points on 4 of 11 shooting.

SHULER NAMED SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After leading Ole Miss to a victory over No. 10 Tennessee and hitting the game-winning shot in a thrilling overtime win at Auburn, senior guard Devontae Shuler was named SEC Co-Player of the Week. The conference office announced that Shuler and Missouri guard Dru Smith shared the weekly accolade. Shuler earned the honor for the first time in his career, coming through in the clutch to lead Ole Miss to a pair of huge SEC victories last week. First, Shuler recorded team highs in points (15) and rebounds (7) to propel the Rebels to an upset victory over No. 10 Tennessee (Feb. 2). Late in the second half, he went on his own 7-0 run to flip a three-point deficit into a four-point lead, one Ole Miss would not relinquish. Shuler's heroics continued Saturday (Feb. 6) as the senior guard hit the game-winning shot with 0.2 seconds to go in overtime at Auburn. Scoring a season-high 26 points, 23 of them coming in the second half and overtime, Shuler led a comeback in which the Rebels trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half. He also dished out a team-high four assists, grabbed six rebounds, and produced his ninth multi-steal game of the season. In the win over the Tigers, Shuler moved to fourth on the Ole Miss all-time list for career steals as well as cracked the career top 10 for three-pointers made.

WHAT A WIN
With 13 seconds left, Kermit Davis put the ball in his senior leader's hands and Devontae Shuler delivered. Shuler's buzzer-beating jumper lifted Ole Miss to an 86-84 overtime victory at Auburn Saturday afternoon (Feb. 6). For the second straight game, down as much as 14, the Rebels rallied from a double-digit second half deficit.
- The Rebels swept the season series with the Tigers.
- Ole Miss has won 14 of the past 18 against Auburn.
- The Rebels played their first OT game of the season.
- Romello White (30) and Devontae Shuler (26) combined for 56 of the Rebels' 86 points, becoming the first Ole Miss duo to score 25 points apiece since Chris Warren (27) and Terrico White (25) did it versus Kansas State at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off (Nov. 20, 2009).
- White scored a career-high 30 points on 14 of 18 shooting, surpassing his previous best of 25 when he was a freshman at Arizona State (Nov. 17, 2017 vs. Northern Arizona).
- White became the first Rebel to record a double-double with at least 30 points since Justin Reed recorded 32 points and 11 rebounds against South Carolina (Jan. 31, 2004).
- White's 30 points were the most points scored by a Rebel since Breein Tyree scored 40 vs. MSU last season (Feb. 11, 2020).
- White recorded his second double-double of the season and 18th for his career.
- White had a career-high four blocks, the most by a Rebel since Terence Davis in 2018.
- Shuler scored a season-high 26 points, 23 of them coming in the second half and overtime.
- Robert Allen tied a season-high with 12 points.

ON THIS DATE: THREE WINS OVER RANKED TEAMS
Feb. 10, 2007: The Rebels picked up their first win over a ranked team under first year head coach Andy Kennedy, beating No. 18 Alabama 75-69 at Tad Smith Coliseum.
Feb. 10, 2001: Ole Miss cruised to an 87-71 victory over the 10th ranked Tennessee Volunteers. It was one of two top 10 victories for the Rebels that season as they advanced all the way to the Sweet 16.
Feb. 10, 1975: The Rebels protect their home court, knocking off No. 15 Tennessee 88-81 in overtime.

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 17th in turnovers forced (17.0 per game) and 22nd in total steals (152).
- 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
- Five games surrendering 50 points or less (first time since 2003-04 season)
- Has limited three SEC foes to 50 points or less, the first Ole Miss team since the 2000-01 Rebels that set a school record for wins (27) and advanced to the Sweet 16
- 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)

1K REBELS
Ole Miss is the only team in the country to have four 1,000-point scorers on its roster. Jarkel Joiner (1,037) was the latest Rebel to join the club with one of his first half jumpers at Arkansas (Jan. 27). Devontae Shuler (1,186) and Romello White (1,127) 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.

RISING UP THE CAREER CHARTS
Playing in 115 games as a Rebel, senior guard Devontae Shuler continues to climb his way up the program record books. He already ranks top 10 in three categories and is 16 assists away from cracking his fourth top 10.

Career Record	Shuler	Rank	Next Up	Record Holder
Steals	173	4th	3rd - Eric Laird (179)	Jason Smith (211)
3FG Attempted	473	9th	8th - Stefan Moody (494)	Chris Warren (900)
3FG Made	161	10th	9th - Jason Harrison (163)	Chris Warren (334)
Assists	303	--	10th - Eniel Polynice (319)	Sean Tuohy (830)
Points	1,186	30th	29th - Rod Barnes (1,201)	John Stroud (2,328)

PROTECTING CRADDOCK COURT
Winning at home has been a trademark at Ole Miss. Over the past 15 seasons, the Rebels are 173-55 (.759 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 60-29 (.674) advantage against the opposition. Ole Miss has won 298 of its last 385 games (.774 win pct.) in Oxford dating back to the 1996-97 campaign. Under head coach Kermit Davis, the Rebels are 30-13 (.698 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 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 (15.5 ppg), assists (3.4 per game) and steals (1.7 per game), while producing six 20-point games so far this season. He ranks in the SEC's top 10 in all three categories, and his 1.6 assist/turnover ratio is fourth in the conference. In the first 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 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). Coming through in the clutch, Shuler nailed a buzzer-beater, part of a season-high 26 points, to lead Ole Miss to another win at Auburn (Feb. 6).

MELLO'S WORLD
Graduate transfer Romello White has brought his toughness and physicality to Oxford, dominating the post. The Arizona State transfer is averaging 11.1 ppg and 5.7 rpg. White has been a force down low, making 77 of his 115 attempts for a 67.0 percent clip. With 23 blocks over 18 games, White leads Ole Miss in blocks and ranks 10th in the conference. 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 led Ole Miss with team highs in points (20) and rebounds (11). He saved his best game for the other SEC team from Alabama, exploding for a career-high 30 points to go along with 10 rebounds in the overtime victory at Auburn (Feb. 6). He became the first Rebel to record a double-double with at least 30 points since Justin Reed accomplished the feat in 2004. The performance marked the 18th double-double of White's career, his second in an Ole Miss uniform.

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 12.2 ppg during conference games, second only to fellow guard Devontae Shuler (15.5 ppg). He leads the team in free throw shooting, making 84.3 percent of his attempts. Joiner 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 the 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.

SHULER STEALS
Senior Devontae Shuler is rising up the program's all-time steals list with 173 career steals. Getting two steals against Auburn (Feb. 6), he passed Jason Harrison (172) to move into fifth in Ole Miss history. Averaging 1.7 steals per game, Shuler ranks fifth in the SEC. He is six steals away from tying Eric Laird for third 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.

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 (6.6 per game) and steals (1.7 per game). He is fifth in the SEC in steals with the help of 12 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).

DOWN GOES NO. 10
The top two scoring defenses in the SEC put on a clinic last week (Feb. 2). Late heroics and a lockdown zone defense allowed Ole Miss to erase an 11-point second half deficit and upset the No. 10 ranked Tennessee Volunteers 52-50 at The Pavilion. Here are some highlights from the big victory.
- Ole Miss picked up its third top 15 win under Kermit Davis.
- The Rebels snapped a five-game losing skid to the Volunteers.
- Tennessee became the fifth Ole Miss opponent to score 50 points or less this season.
- The Rebels improved to 8-0 when limiting opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the field.
- Ole Miss kept Tennessee without a field goal from 13:09 in the second half to 42 seconds left in the game, a span of 12:27.
- The Rebels forced at least 15 turnovers for the 14th time this season.
- Ole Miss held Tennessee to 5 of 20 (25.0 percent) from the field in the second half.
- The Rebels outscored the Vols 30-10 in the paint.
- Luis Rodriguez produced his 12th multi-steal game of the season.
- Robert Allen recorded his fourth consecutive multi-steal game.
- It was Ole Miss' first single-digit win of the season; the previous eight were by at least 11 points.

WINNING BIG
When the Rebels win, they usually win big.
- Eight of the team's 10 victories this season have been by double digits.
- Dating back to last season, 20 of the 25 wins are double-digit victories.

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 448 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 514 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 facing another top 10 team at home, the Rebels hit the road again. The week against teams from Columbia continues as Ole Miss head to South Carolina (Feb. 13). It will be the Rebels' fourth road contest in six games. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

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Players Mentioned

Robert Allen

KJ Buffen

Jarkel Joiner

Luis Rodriguez

Devontae Shuler

Khadim Sy

Breein Tyree

Dimencio Vaughn

Romello White

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