The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
North Alabama
Men's Hoops Takes On North Alabama In Final Home Non-Conference Game
12/19/2022 | Men's Basketball
The Rebels and Lions will tip-off at 2 p.m. on SEC Network+
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OLE MISS (8-3, 0-0 SEC) vs. NORTH ALABAMA (6-5, 0-0 ASUN) Tuesday, Dec. 20 • 2 p.m. CT • Oxford, Miss. The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500)  |
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Ole Miss Game Notes • North Alabama Game Notes • SEC Game Notes |
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OXFORD, Miss. – Following a strong home win this past weekend, the Ole Miss men's basketball team looks to keep it rolling against North Alabama, hosting the Lions on Tuesday, December 20 at 2 p.m. in the SJB Pavilion.
TEAM FACTS
Ole Miss Rebels (8-3, 0-0 SEC)
Head Coach: Kermit Davis • 5th Season at Ole Miss (72-64) • 541-327 career record (28th Season)
Temple Owls (6-5, 0-0 ASUN)
Head Coach: Tony Pujol • 5th Season at North Alabama (51-76) • 51-76 career record (5th Season)
ON THE AIR
Television/Online: SEC Network+
Play-by-Play: Jake Hromada
Color: John Stround
OLE MISS RADIO
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: David Kellum
Color: Marc Dukes
SERIES HISTORY VS. NORTH ALABAMA
While the two universities have met four times before on the basketball court, this will be the first meeting with North Alabama since the school changed its name in August of 1974 from Florence State University. In their first meeting in 1952, Ole Miss recorded their fourth-ever 100-point game, defeating Florence State 111-92 as the Rebels set a school record with 46 made field goals (later broken in 1970, now the fourth-most in program history). The two teams met just over a month later in Oxford, with the Rebels coming out on top 82-48. A decade later, the schools played in a "home and away" series once more, with Ole Miss defeating Florence State in a tight 68-64 game on January 2, 1962, before the Rebs won by 10 a few weeks later, 80-70, on January 29.
AN OLE MISS WIN WOULD...
...give the Rebels nine wins in a season before the new calendar year for the third time under Kermit Davis.
...give Ole Miss a 5-0 record against North Alabama, but the first against the university since changing their name from Florence State University.
...give the Rebels a record of 5-0 or better against 13 opponents in program history.
DEEP POCKETS
The Rebels' depth has been on full display to begin the season, as the Ole Miss bench has accounted for over a third of the team's scoring through their first 11 games (38.1%, 295 of 775 points). The Rebs have topped their opponents in bench points in nine of 11 contests, and are outscoring their foes' benches by 143 on the year (295 to 152). Their 26.8 points per game off the bench rank fourth in the SEC. North Alabama enters this matchup with an average of 27.6 points per game off the bench.
ANOTHER ONE
With an average of 13.2 offensive rebounds per game, the Rebels have been among the best in the country in earning second chances on the glass, currently ranking 25th in college basketball in offensive boards per game. The team is led by senior transfer Myles Burns with 28 offensive rebounds (2.6 per game).
LIGHTS OUT
Ole Miss has lit the net on fire, shooting at least 50 percent overall in four games and at least 45 percent in six of 11 games played. The Rebels were especially hot in Orlando at the ESPN Events Invitational, shooting 48.5 percent overall -- thanked greatly by two 50 percent outings against Stanford and Siena, the first two-game stretch at or above 50 percent since the opening of the 2021-22 season against New Orleans (.531) and Charleston Southern (.507). Under head coach Kermit Davis, Ole Miss is 33-5 overall when shooting 50 percent or better.
WHEN IT COUNTS
Ole Miss has been especially strong in the second half this season, shooting 49.0 percent overall in the back half while outscoring opponents 429-357 (39.0 points per second half, +6.5 scoring margin). Additionally, the Rebels have put up a +3.7 rebounding margin in the second half this season, while junior Matthew Murrell is averaging 9.0 points and 1.3 threes per second half this season. At the ESPN Events Invitational, Ole Miss shot a blistering 55 percent overall, led by 14.3 points per second half by Amaree Abram, who was also 5-of-6 from three and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the back half.
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 ranks eighth in the SEC in threes per game (2.4) and sixth in total threes made (26). His 15.5 points per game average ranks seventh in the conference, and he has eclipsed 20 points in four games this season. 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. In his career, Murrell has hit five or more threes four times, while also notching eight games with at least four, 13 with at least three, 25 with multiple threes, and he had a 25-consecutive game streak with at least one three made snapped against Stanford on Nov. 24. Murrell has been a legit scoring threat since he stepped foot on campus as Ole Miss' highest-rated signee of the Davis era, but he has been especially lights-out since the start of last conference season. 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 20-point games came in SEC play last season, topped by a superb 31-point outing vs. Mississippi State on Jan. 8.
RENAISSANCE MAN
Senior transfer Myles Burns has made an immediate impact for the Rebels on both ends of the floor with a unique talent blend as a defensive force and a go-getter on the offensive glass. Burns ranks third in the SEC and No. 14 in the NCAA at 2.6 steals per game, while also ranking seventh in the conference at 2.6 offensive boards per game.
Prior to Ole Miss, Burns had an extraordinary career at Loyola New Orleans, where he was a four-time NAIA All-American and three-time SSAC Defensive Player of the Year. With the Wolf Pack, Burns played in 120 career games with 111 starts, while setting career averages of 15.3 points (1,852), 8.8 rebounds (1,069), 3.0 steals (358), 2.5 assists (298) and 1.0 blocks (116). In Loyola's record book, Burns ranks No. 1 in steals (358), No. 2 all-time in points (1,852), No. 2 in rebounds (1,069), No. 4 in blocks (116) and No. 7 in assists (298), with his 358 steals resting 163 more than any other player in Loyola history. Burns helped lead Loyola to the 2022 NAIA National Championship title, the first in school history since 1945, as the tournament MVP at 19.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 5.2 steals with four double-doubles in six tournament games.
Burns is no stranger to dominating these two distinct statistical categories, as his 151 offensive rebounds and 152 steals in 2021-22 had no rival in all of college basketball, with the nearest Division I comparison being defending national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky, who had 179 offensive rebounds and 60 steals last season. Furthermore, Burns' 152 steals last season earned him the 2022 Marques Haynes Award, which is given annually to the player with the most steals in all of college basketball, regardless of division.
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.
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 as one of the best returners in the nation this year, currently fourth in total rebounds (1,048), fifth in total blocks (242), fifth in career double-doubles (38), ninth in rebounds per game (9.2), 10th in blocks per game (2.1) and 20th in field goal shooting (.610). McKinnis is one of just four active players in all of college basketball with 1,000 career rebounds alongside South Alabama's Kevin Samuel (1,139), North Carolina's Armando Bacot (1,129) and Nicholls' Manny Littles (1,051). He is also just one of three, alongside Samuel and Bacot, with 1,000 career points (1,123) and 1,000 career rebounds.
Ole Miss is one of two schools with multiple top-20 rebounders on the active career list alongside Texas Tech. McKinnis (1,048) and Josh Mballa (823; No. 19) combine for 1,871 career rebounds, the most among teammates ahead of Texas Tech's 1,865 from Fardaws Almaq (918) and Kevin Obanor (947).
Ole Miss also ranks highly on the career blocks list with two top-10 entries. McKinnis ranks fifth at 242 swats, while Theo Akwuba is ninth at 194. 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. 14) and Akwuba (17, t-No. 50) combine for 84 career double-doubles, with McKinnis and Mballa owning the second-most by a pair of teammates at 67 behind Texas Tech's Almaq (41) and Obanor (36) at 77.
* Note: Myles Burns' 1,069 career rebounds while at NAIA Loyola New Orleans do not transfer over to the NCAA records lists, but he would rank second in the nation at 1,138 if they did and give Ole Miss a combined 4,344 boards between Burns (1,138), McKinnis (1,048), Mballa (823), Robert Allen (668) and Akwuba (667). Burns' combined career total of 1,927 points would also rank No. 16 among all NCAA divisions.
AIN'T WASTING TIME NO MORE
With eight new faces for Ole Miss this season, the Rebel newcomers are already seeing serious minutes and have contributed to the team's 8-3 start.
Newcomer Splits:
Minutes: 53.4% (1,174 of 2,200)
Scoring: 48.8% (378 of 775)
Rebounding: 51.6% (216 of 419)
Assists: 49.7% (73 of 147)
Steals: 60.6% (57 of 94)
Blocks: 82.0% (41 of 50)
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%)
vs. UT Martin: 35 of 72 (48.6%)
vs. Stanford: 48 of 72 (66.7%)
vs. Siena: 37 of 74 (50.0%)
vs. Stanford: 39 of 55 (70.1%)
at Memphis: 32 of 57 (56.1%)
vs. Valparaiso: 27 of 98 (27.6%)
vs. UCF: 38 of 61 (62.3%)
vs. Temple: 24 of 63 (38.1%)
DYNAMIC DUO
Matthew Murrell and sophomore Daeshun Ruffin 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.
A Taste of Revenge
On Dec. 10th, the Ole Miss Rebels took on Valparaiso for the first time since the 1998 NCAA Tournament upset, defeating them 98-61 and setting a new program record for points scored in the SJB Pavilion. The Rebels never trailed in the game and dominated the secondary stats such as points off turnovers (36 to 0), points in the paint (64 to 26), fast break points (20 to 2), and points off the bench (54 to 25).
GUESS WHO'S BACK?
After missing the final month of the season last year and first seven games of the 2022-23 season, Daeshun Ruffin returned to action on Dec. 3 against Memphis, coming off the bench and playing 14 minutes. Tearing 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, Ruffin's return this season was delayed due to a minor bone bruise. In four games since his return he ranks third on the team with 9.0 points per game, and leads the team with 3.8 assists per contest while averaging 17.0 minutes.
