No. 23 Ole Miss trying to get back on track this evening, welcoming Texas to SJB Pavilion + how to watch


It’s been nothing but disappointment for the Ole Miss Rebels (15-5, 4-3 SEC) since knocking off then No. 4 Alabama and putting the nation on notice. The Rebels haven’t won since, with three consecutive losses and two of them decided by a single possession.

Regardless, Ole Miss still sits firmly in the NCAA Tournament hunt as a projected No. 6 seed in recent bracketology. That said, they’ve blown opportunities to be among the top three or four teams in the SEC as of late.

Tonight, a week full of great opportunities await with a three-game home stand against some of the best in the country. It starts this evening as the Rebels host the Texas Longhorns (14-6, 3-4 SEC). Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT tonight and can be seen on ESPN2 or listened to on the Ole Miss Radio Network.

Texas’ inaugural season in the SEC has been full of ups and downs, but they’re starting to hit their stride since the middle of January, beating the two-ranked teams (Missouri and Texas A&M) that the Rebels failed to finish off over the last week. As a matter of fact, the Longhorns were able to engineer their program’s largest comeback victory in program history since the 1998-99 season facing the Aggies, erasing a 22-point deficit for their best victory to date.

The Horns feature the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week and the league’s top scorer in Tre Johnson, who most recently dropped 30 points, four assists, two blocks and a steal while playing 37 minutes. He’s averaging right at 19 points a game through 20 games. As a team, Texas, like Ole Miss, has done a good job of taking care of the basketball with just 9.6 turnovers per game (both top 10 nationally). Texas has been efficient offensively though with a top 40 ranking in field goal percentage (.482) and in three-point percentage (.374).

At the time of writing, Texas is currently No. 31 in the NCAA NET with a 3-5 record against Quad 1 teams, including one Quad 2 loss. On the flip side, Ole Miss checks in at 22 in the NET with a 4-5 record against Quad 1 foes.

In all three of Ole Miss’ losses as of late, the Rebels have consistently been out-rebounded by a wide margin and have failed to match the opponent at the free throw line. Last week, the Rebels were without Dre Davis due to an “upper extremity” injury.

Despite recent struggles, Ole Miss has still excelled in securing the basketball as mentioned earlier (9.6 turnovers per game) and its +6.6 turnover margin is the third best nationally, with its 16.2 forced turnovers per game, ranking 12th.

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ON THE AIR

Television/Online: ESPN2
Play-by-Play: Tom Hart
Color: Dane Bradshaw

OLE MISS RADIO 
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: David Kellum
Color: Marc Dukes

TEAMS BREAKDOWN:

Ole Miss:

– 77.8 points for, 66.4 points against

– .447 field goal percentage

– 34.3 rebounds per game

– 15.6 assists per game

– 4.6 blocks per game

– 10.1 steals per game

Texas:

– 78.9 points for, 66.3 points against

– .482 field goal percentage

– 35.2 rebounds per game

– 13.4 assists per game

– 4.6 blocks per game

– 6.8 steals per game

PROJECTED STARTING 5:

Ole Miss –

F – #0 Malik Dia (10.0 PPG. 6.2 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.6 SPG)

G – #3 Sean Pedulla (14.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 3.7 APG, 2.3 SPG)

G – #5 Jaylen Murray (5.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.0 SPG)

G – #11 Matthew Murrell (11.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.1 APG, 2.2 SPG)

F – #14 Dre Davis (9.5 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.2 SPG)

Head Coach – Chris Beard (2nd season, 35-17)

Texas –

G – #0 Jordan Pope (12.1 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 1.7 APG, 0.8 SPG)

F – #5 Kadin Shedrick (8.0 PPG. 6.0 RPG, 0.5 APG, 1.7 BPG)

G – #12 Tramon Mark (9.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.6 SPG)

G – #20 Tre Johnson (18.8 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.8 SPG)

F – #25 Jayson Kent (4.5 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 0.4 APG, 0.4 SPG)

Head Coach – Rodney Terry (3rd season, 56-27)

LAST 5 GAMES

Ole Miss: 2-3

1/11 vs. LSU – W 77-65

1/14 @ Alabama – W 74-64

1/18 @ Mississippi State – L 84-81 (OT)

1/22 vs. Texas A&M – L 63-62

1/25 @ Missouri – L 83-75

Texas: 3-2

1/11 vs. Tennessee – L 74-70

1/15 @ Oklahoma – W 77-73

1/18 @ Florida – L 84-60

1/21 vs. Missouri – W 61-53

1/25 vs. Texas A&M – W 70-69

SEC MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS:

Auburn 6-0 SEC, 18-1 overall

Alabama 6-1 SEC, 17-3 overall

Florida 5-2 SEC, 18-2 overall

Missouri 5-2 SEC, 16-4 overall

Texas A&M 5-3 SEC, 16-5 overall

Mississippi State 4-3 SEC, 16-4 overall

Vanderbilt 4-3 SEC, 16-4 overall

Ole Miss 4-3 SEC, 15-5 overall

Kentucky 4-3 SEC, 15-5 overall

Tennessee 4-4 SEC, 17-4 overall

Texas 3-4 SEC, 14-6 overall

Georgia 3-5 SEC, 15-6 overall

Oklahoma 2-5 SEC, 15-5 overall

LSU 1-5 SEC, 12-7 overall

Arkansas 1-6 SEC, 12-8 overall

South Carolina 0-8 SEC, 10-11 overall

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(Notes, info and more courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics)

SERIES HISTORY VS. TEXAS

The two programs first met on the court back in 1955 in Montgomery, Ala., playing consistently throughout the 1960’s and early 1970’s. While the Longhorns won seven of the first eight matchups, the Rebels came out on top of five-straight games from 1970 to 1974. The two most recently met up in 2018 for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge in Austin, Texas, where Ole Miss fell 85-72. While Texas owns the all-time series lead 9-6, Ole Miss has won four of five games played in Oxford.
 
LAST MEETING: January 27, 2018 (L, 72-85, Austin, Texas)
• The Longhorns took an early lead, eventually leading by nine at halftime and holding on for the win.
Deandre Burnett (Ole Miss): 21 points, three rebounds, one assist.
• Mo Bamba (Texas): 25 points, 15 rebounds, four blocks, 12-13 FT.
 
AP FLOUR, SUGAR, SALT, BUTTER, AND WATER
Ole Miss has dominated the turnover battle this year, ranking third in the nation with a turnover margin of +6.6 while ranking 10th in turnovers per game at 9.6. The Rebels are forcing an average of 16.2 turnovers per contest which ranks 12th in the NCAA. Ole Miss’ assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.64 also ranks among the nation’s best at 13th, led by Jaylen Murray with a season ratio of 2.89. They’ve been a force on the defensive end with an average of 10.1 steals per game (sixth in NCAA), paced by Sean Pedulla, who ranks 24th in steals per game nationally.
 
LET’S PLAY DEFENSE
A staple of success for head coach Chris Beard has always been his team’s defensive play, and it’s been evident on this year’s Ole Miss roster to start the season. With a turnover margin of +6.6, the Rebels own the third-best average in all of college basketball, forcing 16.2 per game (No. 12 in the NCAA) while committing just 9.6 to rank 10th in the NCAA.
 
They have held opponents to 60 points or less in five games this season, allowing an average of just 66.3 per contest, the 49th-fewest in the NCAA. Their field goal percentage defense of 40.6 ranks 47th in the country this season, and Ole Miss holds a record of 15-2 in two years under Beard when holding the opposition to under 40 percent from the field. Their defensive efforts at the three-point line has led to an opponent shooting percentage of just 30.0 on the season, the 40th-lowest mark in the country.
 
Ole Miss ranks among the top teams in the nation in steals per game at 10.1, the sixth-best clip in college basketball, and blocks per game at 4.6 to rank 47th.
 
“HURRY UP AND GET YOUR MUSCLE UP, WE OUT THE PLYOMETRIC”
The grueling SEC schedule has arrived and Ole Miss jumped out to a hot start in conference action. In game one, the Rebels faced a Georgia team that entered their matchup 12th in the nation in field goal percentage at 50.7 and 12th in the country in rebound margin at +10.4. Ole Miss responded by holding the Bulldogs to just 29.3 percent from the floor, and out-rebounding Georgia, just the second time UGA had lost a battle on the boards this season.
 
In game two at Arkansas, the Rebels faced another top team in shooting efficiency, as the Razorbacks entered with the ninth-best field goal percentage in the nation at 50.7. The Ole Miss defense held Arkansas to just 37.3 percent shooting, and once again out-rebounded a team entering with a positive rebound margin.
 
The Rebels then held LSU to just 40.7 percent from the field and 22.6 percent from deep. Their defense forced 17 turnovers with 12 steals, as five players recorded two swipes. On the road again at No. 4 Alabama, Ole Miss faced the No. 1 scoring offense in the country at 91.1 points per game and the eighth-ranked offensive rebounding team. The Rebels’ defense held the Tide to just 64 points, snapping a 53-game streak of 70+ for Alabama, contained them to just 4 offensive rebounds, and forced 21 turnovers in the road win.
 
Across their seven SEC games, Ole Miss has held their opponents to just 39.6 percent from the field, the fourth-best defensive effort in the league. From three-point range, they rank third in the SEC defensively by holding their opponents to just 27.3 percent shooting. Their clip of 68.0 allowed points per game is also third-best in the SEC.
 
I’LL TAKE THAT, PLEASE
Sean Pedulla has had a big impact for the Rebels on defense, forcing 46 steals for an average of 2.30 per game. The senior guard has collected a steal in 19 of 20 games during the 2024-25 season, grabbing multiple swipes in 14 games this year with a season-best of five against Oral Roberts. He currently ranks 24th in the NCAA in steals per game and 20th in total steals.
 
“POLL” POSITION
In the latest top-25 polls released this past Monday, Ole Miss ranks No. 23 in both the AP Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll. Ranked No. 15 in the Coaches Poll on December 9, it was the highest ranking in a national poll since the Rebels were No. 14 in the AP Poll on January 4, 2010, and the highest position in the Coaches Poll since they sat in 15th on January 21 in 2008. Their current run of nine weeks in the top 25 is the longest streak since the 2009-10 season.

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS
Junior forward Malik Dia has been dead-on to begin SEC play for Ole Miss, averaging 15.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per outing through the first seven games. He is the only player in the conference to rank among the top-10 in both points and rebounds per game during SEC action. Against No. 4 Alabama on January 14, he scored 23 points and grabbed 19 rebounds, becoming the first Rebel to score 20+ with 10+ rebounds since Sebastian Saiz in 2017, the first with 20+ points and 15+ rebounds against an AP-ranked team since Keith Carter against Temple in 1997, and was one board shy of being the first Rebel to score 20 with 20 rebounds since Walter Actwood in 1972.
 
BATTLE TESTED
The future schedule for Ole Miss is one of the most difficult in the nation. As of January 27, they own the nation’s third-toughest remaining strength of schedule according to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index. Their remaining opponent’s win percentage of 78.4 is the third highest in all of college basketball, and their cumulative strength-of-schedule win percentage of 69.3 is the fifth highest in the nation.
 
LUNARDI SAYS “DANCE”
Updated each Tuesday and Friday, the latest bracketology from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Ole Miss as a five seed in the West Region. They are projected by Lunardi to face 12-seed George Mason in Providence, R.I., paired with four-seeded Illinois and 13th-seeded Yale. The highest seed for the Ole Miss program came in the 2001 tournament, when they were set as a three seed and reached the Sweet 16.
 
PROGRAM POINT PRESIDENTS
Seniors Matthew Murrell and Jaemyn Brakefield have each surpassed the 1,000-point mark during their careers here in Oxford, and continue to climb the program leaderboard. Here’s a snapshot of where they lie among the career points list at Ole Miss:

8. Keith Carter – 1,682
9. Jarvis Summers – 1,629
10. Matthew Murrell – 1,625
11. Joe Gibbon – 1,601

27. Sebastian Saiz – 1,273
28. B.L. Graham – 1,259
29. Jaemyn Brakefield – 1,233
30. Dwayne Curtis – 1,232
 
NETWORKING
The 2024-25 NET Rankings made their debut on Monday, December 2 and Ole Miss has since climbed their way to No. 22 in the nation. Since the ranking’s first iteration at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season, their ranking of 13th on January 20 is the highest-ever NET Ranking for the Ole Miss program.
 
As of January 27, the entire SEC is ranked among the top 100, with 13 of the 16 programs sitting inside the top 50, nine in the top 25, and four in the top 10.
 
RECORD BOOK WRECKER
Senior guard Matthew Murrell enters his fifth season with Ole Miss and continues to put his name up and down the program record book. The Memphis native currently ranks 10th in school history in career points with 1,625, fifth in three-point shots made (241), and fourth in three-point attempts (687). He also ranks ninth in most field goal attempts at 1,342, and eighth in career steals with 156, just behind Joe Ayers in seventh with 157.
 
I AM IRON MAN
A consistent member of the lineup for each of the past five seasons, Matthew Murrell ranks among the top 10 in both career minutes and games played. The guard recently broke the program record for total games played in an Ole Miss uniform, surpassing Zach Graham with 135, now at 137. Murrell has played in the fourth-most minutes for the program at 3,967, just behind Carlos Clark with 4,028.



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