Men’s Basketball Closes Homestand Against UT Martin Friday

			OLE MISS (3-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. UT MARTIN (2-2, 0-0 OVC) Friday, Nov. 18 • 6:30 p.m. CT • Oxford, Miss. The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500)
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OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss men's basketball will close its opening homestand of the 2022-23 season when UT Martin comes to town for a Friday night tilt. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT inside The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss and live on SEC Network+.

TEAM FACTS

Ole Miss Rebels (3-0, 0-0 SEC)
Head Coach: Kermit Davis • 5th Season at Ole Miss (67-61) • 536-324 career record (28th Season)

UT Martin Skyhawks (2-2, 0-0 OVC)
Head Coach: Ryan Ridder • 2nd Season at UT Martin (10-24) • 58-69 career record (5th Season)

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SERIES HISTORY VS. UT MARTIN
Friday marks the fifth all-time meeting between the Rebels and Skyhawks, the first since UT Martin came to Oxford during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season on Dec. 22, 2020 (W, 90-43). Ole Miss and UT Martin first met on Dec. 16, 2001 in Southaven (W, 83-72), and again off-site in Tupelo on Dec. 21, 2004 (W, 92-64). The Skyhawks first came to Oxford on Nov. 11, 2016, when the Rebels escaped, 86-83. The last matchup in 2020 marked the largest Ole Miss margin of victory since 2001.

LAST MEETING: Dec. 22, 2020 (W, 90-43, in Oxford)
• Largest margin of victory since 2001 (+47)
• Ole Miss: 59 percent shooting, nine threes made (41 percent)
• Forced 20 turnovers into 26 points
• Won rebounding, 45-21; outscored UT Martin 40-14 in the paint
• Held Skyhawks to 30 percent shooting overall
• Matthew Murrell: 13 points (then a career-high)
• KJ Buffen: 16 points
• Jarkel Joiner: 16 points (12 second half)

FIRST MEETING: Dec. 16, 2001 (W, 83-72, in Southaven)
• Played in the DeSoto County Civic Center
• Eventual NCAA Tournament team improved to 7-2 with win
• Ole Miss: 30-of-38 from the free throw line
• Justin Reed: 17 points
• David Sanders: 14 points
• Justin Johnson: 12 points

LAST TIME OUT: vs. Chattanooga (W, 70-58)
• Tied 33-33 at half; 22-6 second half run helped Rebels separate
• Ole Miss: season-high 53.8 percent first-half shooting; held Mocs to 32.1 in second half
• Held Jake Stephens (16 points) to just three points in second half
• Matthew Murrell: 25 points, 9-of-14 FG, 6-of-10 3PT, tied for team lead with 5 rebounds
• Murrell: most threes by a Rebel since Devontae Shuler vs. Wichita State on Jan. 2, 2021 (6)
• Sixth career 20-point game for Murrell (all within last 20 games); fourth career game with 5+ threes, seventh with 4+ threes, 12th with 3+ threes, 22nd with multiple threes, 24th in a row with at least one trifecta
• TJ Caldwell: 10 points (tied career high)
• Amaree Abram: 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 turnovers

MM11
Junior Matthew Murrell has wasted no time lighting the net on fire this season, picking up right where he left off last season as one of the most feared three-point shooters nationwide. Murrell currently leads the SEC in both threes per game (4.0) and total threes made (12), while ranking 10th and 16th nationally in those categories, respectively. Murrell also ranks fifth in the SEC at 18.3 points per game, helped by two 20-point outings against Chattanooga (25) and Alcorn State (20). Against the Mocs, Murrell drained a career-high six three-pointers -- the most by a Rebel since Devontae Shuler nailed six threes against Wichita State on Jan. 2, 2021. His 25-point game against Chattanooga marked his sixth career 20-point outing, which all have come within his last 20 games played dating back to last season. In his career, Murrell has hit five or more threes four times, while also notching seventh games with at least four, 12 with at least three, 22 with multiple threes, and 24 consecutive games with at least one triple made.

Murrell has been a legit scoring threat since he stepped foot on campus as Ole Miss' highest-rated signee in program history, but he has been especially lights-out since the start of last conference season. Since the beginning of the 2021-22 SEC season, only Tennessee's Santiago Vescovi has more threes made in the conference with 64 trifectas to Murrell's 55. Late last year, Murrell eclipsed 20 points in consecutive games for the first time in his career over his last three regular season games, averaging 22.5 points and 3.5 threes made across two strong outings vs. Texas A&M (20 points) and at No. 6 Kentucky (25 points) -- a stretch in which he shot 57.7 percent overall and 53.8 percent from beyond the arc. All four of Murrell's career 20-point games came in SEC play last season, topped by a superb 31-point outing vs. Mississippi State on Jan. 8.

MURRELL NAMED PRESEASON ALL-SEC
Ole Miss junior Matthew Murrell was honored by the league head coaches, earning Second-Team Preseason All-SEC in recognition of his sharp-shooting prowess last season. Murrell – a native of Memphis, Tennessee – is among the best three-point shooters and all-around guards returning from SEC action last year after ending the 2021-22 conference season ranked second in three-point shooting (.426), third in threes per game (2.5), sixth in minutes per game (34.1), eighth in field goal shooting (.466) and ninth in scoring (15.5). Murrell accounted for 26.6 percent of all three-pointers made by the Rebels last season, and he especially turned it on late, averaging 20.0 points and 3.0 threes over his final three games, as well as 16.3 points and 2.5 threes over his final eight games.

Sparking that SEC season stretch for Murrell was a historic outing versus in-state rival Mississippi State on Jan. 8, where he was nearly perfect in a bombastic 31-point outing against the Bulldogs. Murrell that day became only the third Rebel to go 5-of-5 from beyond the arc, and he is the only Rebel to do so against an SEC opponent during the regular season. Murrell was also 6-of-6 from the free throw line, with his lone blemish coming from within the arc in the closing minutes to end 10-of-11 overall from the field.

Murrell was also big when the spotlight was on against ranked opponents, averaging 15.0 points while shooting 42.9 percent overall and 45 percent from three in six games against AP Top-25 schools. Included in those six were two Ole Miss victories over No. 18 Memphis on Dec. 4 and No. 25 LSU on Feb. 1, during which Murrell averaged 14.0 points for the Rebels.

AIN'T WASTING NO TIME
With eight new faces for Ole Miss this season, the Rebel newcomers are already seeing serious minutes and have contributed to the team's 3-0 start.

Newcomer Splits:
Minutes: 52.0% (315 of 606)
Scoring: 43.9% (98 of 223)
Rebounding: 50.4% (64 of 127)
Assists: 46.5% (20 of 43)
Steals: 54.2% (13 of 24)
Blocks: 69.2% (9 of 13)

Newcomer Scoring:
vs. Alcorn State: 29 of 73 (39.7%)
vs. Florida Atlantic: 36 of 80 (45.0%)
vs. Chattanooga: 33 of 70 (47.1%)

BEST OF THE BEST
Ole Miss' four senior transfers are among some of the best returning big men in all of college basketball. Jayveous McKinnis stands alone as one of the best returners in the nation this year, currently third in total rebounds (1,019), fourth in total blocks (234), fifth in career double-doubles (38), seventh in rebounds per game (9.5), ninth in blocks per game (2.2) and 15th in field goal shooting (.606). McKinnis is one of just three active players in all of college basketball with 1,000 career rebounds alongside South Alabama's Kevin Samuel (1,076) and North Carolina's Armando Bacot (1,025). He is also just one of three, alongside those same two players, with 1,000 career points (1,086) and 1,000 career rebounds.

Ole Miss is one of three schools with multiple top-20 rebounders on the active career list alongside Virginia and Texas Tech. McKinnis (1,019) and Josh Mballa (800; No. 16) combine for 1,819 career rebounds, the second-most among teammates behind Texas Tech's 1,826 from Fardaws Almaq (918) and Kevin Obanor (908). Of the 17,859 combined career rebounds among the NCAA's top-20 active leaders, Ole Miss accounts for 10.2 percent from McKinnis and Mballa alone. When adding in Theo Akwuba (652, No. 50), Ole Miss stands as the lone school in all divisions with more than two top-50 rebounders on the active career list.

Ole Miss also ranks highly on the career blocks list with two top-10 entries at the moment. McKinnis ranks fourth at 234 swats, while Akwuba sits eighth at 186. Combined at 420 career rejections, the Rebel duo accounts for a whopping 17.8 percent of the 2,357 career blocks among the active top-10. Ole Miss stands as one of just two schools with multiple top-25 active blockers alongside Gardner-Webb, but the Rebels are the only school with two within the top-10.

The Rebel trio of McKinnis (38, No. 5), Mballa (29, No. 13) and Akwuba (17, No. 40) combine for 84 career double-doubles, with McKinnis and Mballa owning the second-most by a pair of teammates with 67 behind Texas Tech's Almaq (41) and Obanor (35) at 76.

* Note: Myles Burns' 1,069 career rebounds while at NAIA Loyola New Orleans do not transfer over to the NCAA records lists, but would lead the nation if they did and give Ole Miss a combined 4,204 boards between Akwuba, Burns, Mballa, McKinnis and Robert Allen (647). Burns' combined career total of 1,871 points would also rank No. 8 among all NCAA divisions at the moment.

DYNAMIC DUO
Matthew Murrell and sophomore Daeshun Ruffin -- the top two recruits in program history -- were a potent combo when on the court together last season, giving Ole Miss two of the SEC's top returning guards for 2022-23. Last year, the duo combined for 24.7 PPG, 5.1 APG, 3.1 SPG, shot a combined .408 from the field and .343 from 3PT.

RUFFIN OUT
Ruffin missed the final month of the season last year, and he will have to wait a bit longer to make his 2022-23 debut after suffering a minor bone bruise has forced him out of the first three games of the season. Ruffin tore his ACL at No. 25 LSU on Feb. 1 last season following an incredible effort to help the Rebels earn their second AP Top-25 win of the year. Against the Tigers, Ruffin led Ole Miss with 19 points, three assists and two steals alongside a 6-of-11 line from the field, a 2-of-4 clip from three and a perfect 5-of-5 streak from the free throw line in 20 minutes of game action. Ruffin had been electric since returning to the team following an eight-game absence due to a broken right hand suffered in last year's season opener against New Orleans on Nov. 9. On the season, Ruffin averaged a team-high 2.3 steals per game and led the Rebels with a 52-of-69 (.754) clip from the charity stripe, to go along with 12.6 points, 3.4 assists and 1.5 rebounds per game. In SEC season he was just as impressive against some of the best teams in the nation, ranking at the time of his injury second in the conference in SEC-only action in steals (2.7/game), ninth in free throw shooting (.833) and 10th in assists (3.9/game).

Ruffin was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday (Jan. 31) – the first such honor by a Rebel since Jarvis Summers on Dec. 5, 2011. His honor came courtesy of an excellent three-game stretch from Jan. 24-29, during which he averaged 16.0 points, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals with a 19-of-24 (.792) mark from the free throw line – at one point hitting 14 in a row during those three games. Included in there is a career-high 21 points vs. Florida on Jan. 24, with 15 of those points coming in the second half. In just 14 career games played, Ruffin has scored in double-digits in 10, scored 15 or more in six contests, and has had multiple steals in nine games. Ruffin was on pace to break Elston Turner's 1978 record for steals by a freshman of 47, but will end his season at 32 swipes. Ruffin came to Ole Miss following a superb high school career at Callaway High School in Jackson, Mississippi, joining as the first McDonald's All-American signee in program history.

HITTING HIS STRIDE
The injury to Daeshun Ruffin was made even more devastating by the fact that he was truly starting to hit his stride as a leader on the court. Over his final four games played, Ole Miss went 3-1 with wins against Florida (70-54), Kansas State (67-56) and LSU (76-72), and in those games Ruffin averaged 16.8 points, 3.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and shot .828 from the free throw line with an average of 6.0 free throws made (24-of-29).

Jan. 24 - vs. Florida (W, 70-54) - 21 points, 6 assists, 4 steals, 2 rebounds, 6-13 FG, 9-10 FT
Jan. 26 - vs. Arkansas (L, 64-55) - 10 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 5-5 FT
Jan. 29 - vs. Kansas State (W, 67-56) - 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Feb. 1 - at No. 25 LSU (W, 76-72) - 19 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 rebound, 5-5 FT

For the latest news and updates regarding Ole Miss Men's Basketball, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissMBB, on Facebook at Ole Miss Men's Basketball and on Instagram at olemissmbb.

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Players Mentioned

Amaree Abram

Theo Akwuba

Robert Allen

Myles Burns

TJ Caldwell

Josh Mballa

Jayveous McKinnis

Matthew Murrell

Daeshun Ruffin

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