Ole Miss Opens SEC Slate in Rupp Arena

The Ole Miss Rebels open the conference slate with a tough matchup on the road against the Kentucky Wildcats Tuesday evening.

In the final non-conference matchup of the season, Ole Miss hung 92 points up against the Governors from Austin Peay. With the win, the Rebels improved to 9-4 on the season.

Ole Miss was led in scoring by senior Jarvis Summers with 18 points. Three teammates joined Summers in scoring double figures in the game as Stefan Moody scored 14, Dwight Colby had 12 and Terence Smith added 10 points.

With the schedule turning to the conference slate, Ole Miss leads the nation in free-throw percentage, hitting 78.4. Moody leads the conference at 92.2 precent from the line, which currently has him tied for ninth in the nation.

Kentucky has rolled through their schedule unscathed with a prefect 13-0 mark and a No. 1 rank in the polls. The Wildcats have two players averaging double figures each time out on the court in Andrew Harrison with 10.3 points and Wilie Cauley-Stein 10.1.

With the style of defense that Kentucky puts out on the court Kentucky is only is allowing an average of 47.2 points per game on average thanks to their smothering defense and outrebounding opponents by 10 boards a game.

Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, is never kind to an opposing team looking to come in and defeat Big Blue Nation on their home floor.

This matchup will be the 116 meeting between the two schools and the Wildcats dominate the series with a 102-13 advantage over the Rebels. Ole Miss has only won twice in the Blue Grass state. Last season, Ole Miss dropped a 84-70 decession to Kentucky.

Fans can watch the game on SEC Network at 6 p.m or listen to the call on the Ole Miss radio network.

Adam Brown is HottyToddy.com sports editor and can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.