Men's Basketball Hosts Missouri Tuesday Night

			OLE MISS (9-10, 1-6 SEC) vs. MISSOURI (14-5, 3-4 SEC) Tuesday, Jan. 24 • 6:00 p.m. CT • Oxford, Miss. SJB Pavilion (9,500)
Watch • Live Stats • Listen Ole Miss Game Notes • Missouri Game Notes • SEC Game Notes

OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss men's basketball team continues their conference schedule on Tuesday, January 24, when they host the Missouri Tigers in the SJB Pavilion at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network.

TEAM FACTS
 
Ole Miss Rebels (9-10, 1-6 SEC)
Head Coach: Kermit Davis • 5th Season at Ole Miss (73-71) • 542-334 career record (28th Season)
 
Missouri Tigers (14-5, 3-4 SEC)
Head Coach: Dennis Gates • 1st Season at Missouri (14-5) • 64-45 career record (4th Season)
 
ON THE AIR
 
Television/Online: SEC Network
Play-by-Play: Mike Morgan
Color: Daymeon Fishback
 
OLE MISS RADIO
 
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: David Kellum
Color: Marc Dukes

SERIES HISTORY VS. MISSOURI

Ole Miss and Missouri met for the first time in January of 2013 after the Tigers joined the SEC, with the Rebels earning a win at home over No. 10 Missouri 64-49 in the Tad Pad. After losing the second matchup a month later, Ole Miss won the next eight contests beginning and ending with victories in the SEC Tournament. The Tigers have gotten the best of the Rebs recently, winning the previous three matchups. When playing in Oxford, Ole Miss leads the series 7-2 and are tied at four wins each under head coach Kermit Davis.

LAST MEETING: March 9, 2022 (L, 60-72, TAMPA, FLA., SEC TOURNAMENT)

• Ole Miss and Missouri were tied at the half at 32-32, before a big second half from the Tigers propelled them to a win in the first round of the SEC Tournament.

• The Rebels were led by Matthew Murrell with 16 points, four rebounds and two steals, while the Tigers' top scorer was Kobe Brown with 16 points.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS

Missouri enters their contest with Ole Miss with a 14-5 record overall, going 3-4 in the SEC. The Tigers won nine straight to begin the season before falling to No. 6 Kansas at the Hy-Vee Hoops Border Showdown on Dec. 10. Victories over UCF and No. 16 Illinois sent the Tigers into conference play, where they started with an 89-75 win over No. 19 Kentucky. Since their SEC-opener Missouri has lost to Arkansas, Texas A&M, Florida, and Alabama, picking up wins over Vanderbilt and Arkansas.

Four Tigers average 10 or more points per game this season, led by Kobe Brown at 15.7 per contest. The senior forward also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 5.6 per contest.

Missouri's offense averages 83.1 points per game, which ranks 13th in the nation and second in the conference. Led by D'Moi Hodge at an SEC-best 2.5 steals per game, the Tigers lead the country with an average of 11.4 per contest, forcing a conference-high 18.5 turnovers per game. Missouri also ranks highly in assist-to-turnover ratio (15th, 1.46), assists per game (16th, 16.9), and fast break points (12th, 16.0).

A DEFENSIVE GOAT

Entering Ole Miss' game against Missouri, senior transfer Myles Burns has recorded 399 collegiate steals in his basketball career. Joining the Ole Miss program from Loyola New Orleans of the NAIA, Burns brought 358 steals from his four-year NAIA All-American career and has collected 41 since coming to Oxford. Counting his stats from the NAIA, Burns would become just the sixth person in NCAA history across all divisions to collect 400 career steals.

400 Career NCAA Steals List

1. Calvin Cheek, New England Col. (III), 2017-22: 580 steals

2. Jacob Gilyard, Richmond (I), 2017-22: 466 steals

3. Tennyson Whitted, Ramapo (III), 1999-2003: 448 steals

4. Jonte Flowers, Winona St. (II), 2004-08: 414 steals

5. John Gallogly, Salve Regina (III), 1994-98: 413 steals

ANOTHER ONE

With an average of 11.8 offensive rebounds per game, the Rebels have been among the best in the country in earning second chances on the glass, currently ranking 65th in the nation. The team is led by senior transfer Myles Burns with 42 offensive rebounds (2.2 per game, 7th in the SEC).

THEM REBS MOVE FAST

Ole Miss has been quick to react on defensive rebounds and turnovers, outscoring their opponents on fast-break opportunities by 85 this season (212-127). The Rebels has recorded more fast-break points than the other team in 15 of their 19 games so far.

BLOCK PARTY

The Ole Miss defense currently averages 65.5 points allowed per game, only letting their opponents top 70 points three times this year. A major part of their defensive identity has been enforcing the paint, as the Rebels rank 24th in the country and fourth in the SEC in blocks per game (5.0). They are led down low by senior transfers Theo Akwuba (25 total blocks, 1.3 per game) and Jayveous McKinnis (23 total blocks, 1.3 per game).

On January 3 at No. 7 Alabama, Akwuba and McKinnis combined for seven blocks, with Akwuba's four bringing his collegiate career total to 200. He and McKinnis (255 career blocks) are the only two teammates in college basketball with over 200 swats in their careers, and each rank among the top-10 in active career leaders.

THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 20

Junior guard Matthew Murrell has scored 20 or more points six times this season, and averages 14.9 per game. A large part of his offense has come from deep, as he has made 38 threes on the year. Over a four-game stretch against Mississippi State, Auburn, Georgia, and South Carolina, Murrell averaged 19.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game, whlie shooting 44.1% from the field and connecting on 10 threes.

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 16 games (36.8%, 468 of 1,273 points). The Rebs have topped their opponents in bench points in 13 of 19 contests, and are outscoring their foes' benches by 133 on the year (468 to 335). Their 24.6 points per game off the bench rank 62nd across college basketball and fifth in the SEC.

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 33rd in the NCAA averaging 2.2 steals per game, while also ranking seventh in the conference at 2.2 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.

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 fifth in total rebounds (1,085), fifth in total blocks (255), seventh in career double-doubles (39), 10th in rebounds per game (8.9), 11th in blocks per game (2.1) and 25th in field goal shooting (.612). McKinnis is one of just 11 active players in all of college basketball with 1,000 career rebounds alongside South Alabama's Kevin Samuel (1,232), North Carolina's Armando Bacot (1,221), Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe (1,118), Nicholls' Manny Littles (1,116), Lipscomb's Ahsan Asadullah (1,059), LSU's KJ Williams (1,023), Iowa's Filip Rebraca (1,015), Virginia's Jayden Gardner (1,012), Texas Tech's Kevin Obanor (1,008), and San Diego's Eric Williams Jr. (1,005). He is also just one of ten, alongside Samuel, Bacot, Tshiebwe, Asadullah, Williams, Rebraca, Obanor, Williams Jr., and Gardner with 1,000 career points (1,170) and 1,000 career rebounds.

Ole Miss ranks highly on the career blocks list with two top-10 entries. McKinnis ranks fifth at 255 swats, while Theo Akwuba is 10th at 207. Ole Miss stands as the only school with multiple top-10 active blockers and is the only school with two within the top-25. The Rebel trio of McKinnis (39, No. 7), Mballa (29, No. 17) and Akwuba (17) combine for 85 career double-doubles, with McKinnis and Mballa owning the second-most by a pair of teammates at 68 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 third in the nation at 1,189 if they did and give Ole Miss a combined 4,472 boards between Burns (1,189), McKinnis (1,085), Mballa (827), Akwuba (689) and Robert Allen (682). Burns' combined career total of 1,973 points would also rank No. 23 among all NCAA divisions.

CAN'T BRAKE HIS COMPOSURE

In Ole Miss' game against No. 7 Tennessee, Jaemyn Brakefield shot a perfect 4-4 from three-point range, setting a season-high with 18 points in the process. The junior from Jackson, Miss. became just the eighth Rebel in program history to remain perfect from deep in a game with a minimum of four attempts. The last to do so was Devontae Shuler on Dec. 10, 2020 against Jackson State when he went 5-5.

AIN'T WASTING TIME NO MORE

With eight new faces for Ole Miss this season, the Rebel newcomers have been seeing serious minutes, and contributing in all major stat categories.

Newcomer Splits:
Minutes: 51.9% (1,972 of 3,800)
Scoring: 45.2% (575 of 1,273)
Rebounding: 52.6% (372 of 707)
Assists: 44.6% (107 of 240)
Steals: 60.0% (81 of 135)
Blocks: 80.0% (76 of 95)

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%)
vs. North Alabama: 26 of 65 (40.0%)
vs. Tennessee: 27 of 59 (45.8%)
vs. Alabama: 25 of 62 (40.3%)
at Mississippi State: 19 of 54 (35.2%)
vs. Auburn: 17 of 73 (23.3%)
vs. Georgia: 31 of 58 (53.5%)
at South Carolina: 30 of 70 (42.9%)
at Arkansas: 22 of 57 (38.6%)

THROUGH THE FIRE

Ole Miss has faced off with some of the best competition college basketball has to offer, as the Rebels current strength of schedule ranks fifth in the nation. With a combined opponent record of 225-126 (0.641), they have taken on nine foes with a current NET ranking in the top-100, including six in the top-50 and two in the top-10.

DAVIS ERA TRENDS TO WATCH

• 59-24 when leading at half
• 6-0 when scoring 90+, 30-4 when scoring 80+, 57-23 when scoring 70+
• 52-21 when winning the rebounding battle
• 33-5 when at 50 percent shooting or better
• 21-8 when shooting 40 percent or better from three
• 40-9 when keeping opponents below 40 percent shooting

WELCOME TO THE 'SIP

The pipeline hasn't shut off for the Rebels yet, as Ole Miss added four more highly-ranked recruits for the 2023-24 class. Included in that are three four-star prospects and two ESPN 100 signees, helping push Ole Miss to No. 13 nationally and No. 3 in the SEC. in the current ESPN top recruiting classes for next year.

Jordan Burks • G/F •6-8, 200 • Decatur, Ala. • Southern California Academy
ESPN 4-star prospect (82 grade) ... ESPN No. 11 forward in Florida (prior to transferring to SCA) ... ESPN No. 20 forward nationally.

Coach Davis: "At 6-8 and 200 pounds, he's a big wing who is really athletic in the open floor. He's a good shooter, has great length, has unbelievable upside, and he's off to a great start with an outstanding Southern California Academy program."

Jacob Gazzo • F •6-8, 210 • McComb, Miss. • Briarcrest Christian School
ESPN 3-star rated prospect ... ESPN No. 3 player in Mississippi ... ESPN No. 52 forward nationally

Coach Davis: "Jacob has been committed to us now for a couple of years. He's an athletic 6-8, 210 pounds. He's an excellent shooter as a power forward. He's transferred to Briarcrest. He had a significant injury in the summer, and now he's about to get cleared pretty soon to go back to 5-on-5. An unbelievable family, a great guy, and we think Jacob has great upside at Ole Miss."

Josh Hubbard • PG •6-0, 185 • Madison, Miss. • Madison-Ridgeland Academy
ESPN 4-star rated prospect (93 grade) ... ESPN Top-100 (No. 74) ... ESPN No. 1 player in Mississippi ... ESPN No. 18 point guard nationally ... 247Composite 4-star rated prospect (0.9609 grade) ... 247Compsotie No. 1 player in Mississippi ... 247Composite No. 14 point guard nationally ... 247Composite No. 92 player nationally.

Coach Davis: "Josh Hubbard is the No. 1 rated player in Mississippi. We've been involved with Josh for a long time. I think he's as explosive of an athlete at his position as a point guard as anybody in his class. He's a phenomenal shooter, and a fantastic guy. He comes from an unbelievable family, and a really successful and winning program at MRA."

Rashaud Marshall • F •6-8, 235 • Blytheville, Ark. • Blytheville HS
ESPN 4-star rated prospect (82 grade) ... ESPN Top-100 (No. 96) ... ESPN No. 2 player in Arkansas ... ESPN No. 15 center nationally ... 247/247Composite 4-star rated prospect (92/0.9642 grade) ... 247/247Composite No. 1 player in Arkansas ... 247/247Composite No. 11 center nationally ... 247 No. 79 player nationally.

Coach Davis: "He's rated as the No. 1 player in Arkansas, and at 6-9, 235 pounds he is an explosive, tough and physical player with a great motor. Rashaud is going to have an unbelievable senior year, and he plays for a really good Blytheville program."