Men's Hoops Returns Home to Host Kentucky Tuesday

			OLE MISS (13-10, 8-8 SEC) vs. KENTUCKY (8-14, 7-8 SEC) Tuesday, March 2 • 8 p.m. • Oxford, Miss. The Pavilion at Ole Miss
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GAME 24
Date: March 2, 2021
Time: 8 p.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Arena: The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500)
Television: ESPN
   Karl Ravech, play-by-play
   Jimmy Dykes, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss Sports Network (XM-192, Internet-963)
   David Kellum, play-by-play
   Marc Dukes, analyst
Live Video: ESPN.com/ESPN app
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com/TuneIn app
Series: Kentucky leads 108-13
Last Meeting: Feb. 15, 2020
   #12 Kentucky won 67-62
   Lexington, Ky.

TIPOFF TIDBITS
- Ole Miss has two home games this week after playing six of the past nine games on the road.
- Kentucky is the only SEC foe that Ole Miss has not faced yet.
- The Rebels went 5-2 in February, posting that February record for second time in three seasons under Kermit Davis (also 5-2 in February during the 2018-19 season).
- Ole Miss is 3-0 against ranked teams this season, one of 10 teams in the country to be undefeated against top-25 opponents.
- Two of the ranked wins have been against top-10 teams, giving Ole Miss multiple top-10 victories for the first time since the 2001-02 season.
- The Rebels lead the SEC in scoring defense, surrendering only 66.9 ppg in conference play.
- Ole Miss can finish anywhere between fourth and 10th in regards to SEC Tournament seeding.
- Devontae Shuler is one of only two players in the SEC to rank in the conference's top 10 in scoring (9th), assists (9th) and steals (9th); Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. is the other player.
- Ole Miss is now 60th in the NET. The Rebels were as far back as 85th in the NET on January 18.
- The Rebels rank 24th nationally in turnovers forced per game (16.3).
- Ole Miss is shooting 75.0 percent (111 of 148) from the free throw line over the past seven games; through the first 16 games of the season, the Rebels were making free throws at a 66.1 percent clip (203 of 307).
- The Rebels have held 10 opponents to less than 60 points, including five SEC foes and all three ranked teams.
- Devontae Shuler has 179 steals over his career, tied with Eric Laird for third in program history.
- The Rebels are 9-0 when keeping opponents under 40 percent from the floor.
- Ole Miss is one of only two teams in the country to have four 1,000 point scorers: Devontae Shuler (1,275), Dimencio Vaughn (1,266), Romello White (1,180) and Jarkel Joiner (1,092).
- On this date five years ago (March 2, 2016), Stefan Moody scored a career-high 43 points on his Senior Night to lead Ole Miss to an 86-78 victory over rival MSU.

SEC LEADERS
- The Rebels led the SEC in scoring defense (63.9) and rebounding defense (32.4) in conference play.
- Ole Miss ranks second in the SEC in turnover margin (+2.6).
- Jarkel Joiner ranks second in the conference in free throw percentage (84.0).
- Luis Rodriguez ranks third in steals, averaging 1.8 per game.
- Devontae Shuler ranks in the SEC's top-10 averages for threes made (6th-2.0), minutes (6th-33.2), assist/turnover ratio (8th-1.3), steals (9th-1.6), assists (9th-3.3), points (9th-16.0); he joins Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. as the only two SEC players to rank in the top 10 in points, assists and steals.
- Shuler is the SEC's active leader in career steals (179) and career assists (314), while second in points (1,275).

JOINING THE CONVERSATION
One month ago (Jan. 18), the Rebels found themselves 6-6 (3-4 SEC) and ranked 85th in the NET. However, Ole Miss went on the road and dominated rival MSU 64-46 before picking up another win over Texas A&M. After back-to-back road losses sent them back to .500, the Rebels reeled off four straight victories. With two of those wins coming over top-10 teams (Tennessee and Missouri) and winning five of the past seven, Ole Miss has moved up to No. 60 in the NET and into the conversation as a bubble team. An NCAA Tournament berth is still a possibility if the Rebels can keep racking up wins and make a run in the SEC Tournament, something that did not seem possible in January.

THE ROAD TO NASHVILLE
With two conference games left on the schedule, it's time to look at how the Rebels could be seeded for the SEC Tournament (March 10-14). If the season ended today, Ole Miss would be the No. 6 seed and face the current No. 11 seed, South Carolina. The Rebels can still end up as high as fourth in the conference standings, while finishing as low as 10th. The top four seeds earn a coveted double bye into the quarterfinals.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
- Kentucky enters Tuesday's matchup with an 8-14 (7-8 SEC) record following a home loss to Florida (71-67) that snapped a three-game winning streak.
- The Wildcats have balanced scoring with six players averaging between 7-12 points per game.
- Brandon Boston Jr. leads Kentucky in scoring (12.0 ppg), steals (1.4 spg) and free throw percentage (80.6).
- Kentucky paces the SEC in blocks (6.2 per game) led by freshman Isaiah Jackson, the conference's leading shot blocker (2.7 per game).
- John Calipari is in his 29 season as a head coach, including his 12th season guiding Kentucky.

SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday's game will be the 122nd meeting between the two schools. The Wildcats hold a 108-13 lead in the series, but two of the Rebels' 13 all-time wins have come in the last 15 meetings. Ten of Ole Miss' victories over Kentucky have occurred in Oxford, but the Wildcats have won both contests in The Pavilion.

LAST TIME WE MET
Ole Miss saw its winning streak come to an end as a back-and-forth contest ended in favor of No. 12 Kentucky (Feb. 15, 2020). With seven lead changes over the final five minutes, the Wildcats made free throws down the stretch to hand the Rebels a heartbreaking 67-62 loss. Ole Miss played well defensively. Kentucky entered the game as the SEC's best three-point shooting team in conference play (37.5 percent), and the Rebels limited the Wildcats to just 2 of 22 (9.1 percent) from beyond the arc. The Rebels tallied nine steals led by three from Devontae Shuler. Breein Tyree scored a game-high 19 points to pace Ole Miss, while KJ Buffen recorded 13 points. Shuler added 11 of his own. Kentucky was led by Immanuel Quickley, who tallied 17 points. Nick Richards added 16 points, while Tyrese Maxey got some tough shots to go late and finished with 14 points.

NEW MONTH, NEW REBELS
Ole Miss found success during February, winning five of seven games during the month. After back-to-back road losses to Arkansas and Georgia to end January, the Rebels bounced back with a big victory over No. 10 Tennessee (Feb. 2). The narrow win provided a spark that Ole Miss took to the road, rallying from 14 down in the second half to beat Auburn 86-84 (Feb. 6) in overtime thanks to 30 points from Romello White and a buzzer-beater by Devontae Shuler. Ole Miss kept the momentum going when another top-10 team came into The Pavilion. The Rebels throttled No. 10 Missouri 80-59 (Feb. 10) for their second top-10 victory in eight days. Ole Miss then went on the road and took care of business, beating South Carolina 81-74 (Feb. 13). After a setback at home to MSU (Feb. 20), the Rebels bounced back with a Quadrant 1 win at No. 24 Missouri (Feb. 23).

ON THIS DATE
March 2, 2016: Stefan Moody finished with a career-high 43 points in a spectacular performance on Senior Night at The Pavilion to help Ole Miss beat Mississippi State 86-78. The 5-foot-10 guard scored more than 1,200 career points in less than two full seasons with the Rebels after transferring from a junior college. His final home game was one to remember. He finished 11 of 24 from the field, including 6 of 12 from beyond the arc. He was 15 of 18 at the charity stripe and also had six assists.

SETBACK IN THE MUSIC CITY
When Devontae Shuler and Romelllo White are scoring, the Rebels usually win. Shuler averages 17.3 ppg in wins, while White is scoring 12.2 ppg in victories. In losses, the averages drop to 14.4 ppg for Shuler and 9.5 ppg for White. However, the duo combined for 42 of the 70 points in Saturday's setback to Vanderbilt. Shuler had a game-high 25, his eighth 20-point game of the season, while White added 17 points. However, the Commodores knocked down 11 three-pointers and got 39 points from their bench to get the victory.

SUCCESS WITH SHULER
The Rebels usually go how their fourth-year senior goes. See how Devontae Shuler's stats compare between Ole Miss wins and losses.

	PPG	FG	FG%	3FG	3FG%	FT	FT%	APG	SPG
Wins	17.3	79-175	45.1	31-75	41.3	35-41	85.4	3.7	2.0
Losses	14.4	53-149	35.6	16-64	25.0	22-32	68.8	2.7	1.1

PROTECTING CRADDOCK COURT
Winning at home has been a trademark at Ole Miss. Over the past 15 seasons, the Rebels are 174-56 (.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 61-30 (.670) advantage against the opposition. Ole Miss has won 299 of its last 387 games (.773 win pct.) in Oxford dating back to the 1996-97 campaign. Under head coach Kermit Davis, the Rebels are 31-14 (.689 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.

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 24th in turnovers forced (16.3 per game) and 27th in total steals (186).
- Has kept 10 opponents under 60 points, including five SEC foes and all three ranked teams
- 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)

WINS OVER TOP-10 TEAMS
Ole Miss has 20 victories over top-10 teams throughout its history with two of them coming this season. Earning wins over No. 10 Tennessee (Feb. 2) and No. 10 Missouri (Feb. 10), the Rebels now have three top-10 victories in three seasons under Kermit Davis. Only Rod Barnes (5) and Bob Weltlich (4) have more top-10 wins as Ole Miss head coach.

RISING UP THE CAREER CHARTS
Playing in 120 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 five assists away from cracking his fourth top 10.

Career Record	Shuler	Rank	Next Up	Record Holder
Steals	179	3rd	2nd - Murphy Holloway (194)	Jason Smith (211)
3FG Attempted	505	8th	7th - Terence Davis (519)	Chris Warren (900)
3FG Made	172	9th	8th - Terence Davis (176)	Chris Warren (334)
Assists	314	--	10th - Eniel Polynice (319)	Sean Tuohy (830)
Points	1,275	24th	23rd - Jason Smith (1,286)	John Stroud (2,328)

SWEEPING NATIONALLY-RANKED MISSOURI
Ole Miss continued to dominate the series against the No. 24 Missouri Tigers. Two weeks ago, Ole Miss upset then-No. 10 Missouri 80-59 (Feb. 10). Making the trip to Columbia (Feb. 23), the Rebels led for most of the night before holding off a Tiger comeback for a 60-53 win. Here are several notes from the season sweep.
- Ole Miss improved to 3-0 against ranked teams this season, two of those wins against the Tigers.
- The Rebels beat the same ranked team twice in a season for the first time since the 1998-99 campaign (Arkansas).
- Ole Miss swept the season series and improved to 15-3 all-time against Missouri.
- Winning the first matchup, the Rebels collected their second victory over a top-10 team this season, earning multiple wins over top-10 teams for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign.
- The 21-point win in the opener was the largest margin of victory over a top-10 team since an 84-56 win over No. 6 Alabama (March 3, 2002).
- The Rebels shot 56.9 percent from the floor in the first game, their best field goal percentage in an SEC game since Feb. 7, 2015 (57.8 percent vs. Auburn).

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 (16.0 ppg) and assists (3.3 per game), while producing eight 20-point games so far this season. He ranks in the SEC's top 10 in threes made (6th), assist/turnover ratio (8th), steals (9th), assists (9th) and points (9th). 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 26 points on the day, to lead Ole Miss to another win at Auburn (Feb. 6). He saved his best game as a Rebel when he returned to his home state of South Carolina, scoring a career-high 31 points in a victory over the Gamecocks (Feb. 13).

MELLO'S WORLD
Graduate transfer Romello White has brought his toughness and physicality to Oxford, dominating the post. The Arizona State transfer is averaging 11.0 ppg and 5.7 rpg. White has been a force down low, making 98 of his 148 attempts for a 66.2 percent clip. That field goal percentage is on pace to break Marcus Hicks' school record (63.8 percent) set in 1999 (minimum 150 attempts). With 28 blocks over 23 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 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). His 14 made field goals are the most by an SEC player this season. 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.

30-POINT REBELS
Devontae Shuler and Romello White have put together 30-point games this season. Shuler got his career-high 31 points in a homecoming victory at South Carolina (Feb. 13), while White recorded a career-high 30 points in an overtime win at Auburn one week earlier (Feb. 6). The duo joined a select group of Rebels who have produced 30-point games over the past decade: Deandre Burnett, Terence Davis, Zach Graham, Marshall Henderson, Stefan Moody, Dundrecous Nelson, Breein Tyree and Chris Warren.

1K REBELS
Ole Miss is one of two teams (Oregon) in the country to have four 1,000-point scorers on its roster. Jarkel Joiner (1,092) was the latest Rebel to join the club with one of his first half jumpers at Arkansas (Jan. 27). Devontae Shuler (1,275) and Romello White (1,180) both cracked four digits in the SEC opener at Alabama (Dec. 29). Dimencio Vaughn also has 1,266 career points after recording 1,239 during his time at Rider.

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 11.8 ppg during conference games, second only to fellow guard Devontae Shuler (16.2 ppg). He leads the team in free throw shooting, making 84.0 percent of his attempts to rank second in the SEC. In last week's win over No. 24 Missouri, Joiner went 8 for 8 at the free throw line which included a perfect 6 for 6 in the final minute to ice the game. 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 scored a season-high 22 points. He added a game-high 21 points in a win over Texas A&M (Jan. 23), his second 20-point night over a three-game stretch. Joiner led the Rebels to another top-10 victory with a team-high 21 points versus No. 10 Missouri (Feb. 10).

SHULER STEALS
Senior Devontae Shuler is rising up the program's all-time steals list with 179 career steals. Getting one steal at Vanderbilt (Feb. 27), he moved into a tie with Eric Laird for third in Ole Miss history. Averaging 1.6 steals per game, Shuler ranks ninth in the SEC. 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 (6.0 per game) and steals (1.7 per game) to go along with 7.7 ppg. He is fifth in the SEC in steals with the help of 14 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). In the win over No. 10 Missouri (Feb. 10), Rodriguez scored a career-high 15 points to go along with a team-high six rebounds.

WINNING BIG
When the Rebels win, they usually win big.
- Nine of the team's 13 victories this season have been by double digits, including six by at least 18 points.
- Dating back to last season, 21 of the 28 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 451 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 517 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
Ole Miss remains at home for the final game before the SEC Tournament. For the second consecutive Saturday, the Rebels face Vanderbilt. This time, the matchup takes place in The Pavilion on Senior Night (March 6). Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

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Players Mentioned

KJ Buffen

Jarkel Joiner

Luis Rodriguez

Devontae Shuler

Breein Tyree

Romello White

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