Ole Miss Opens Play in Pavilion Against Alabama

Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics

Tonight the Ole Miss Rebels play host to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the new Pavilion at Ole Miss. The tip-off is set for 8 p.m. on ESPNU.

Ole Miss Rebels and Alabama are meeting for the 175th time. Alabama does own a commanding lead in the series at 118-56, but the Rebels do have a four game lead in the series in Oxford and have won the past two contests.

The long-awaited next chapter of Ole Miss Basketball begins this week, as the Rebels will christen the centerpiece of the Forward Together campaign, the state-of-the-art $96.5 million Pavilion at Ole Miss. The Pavilion is more than 225,000 square feet and has a capacity of 9,500 fans. It includes a number of first-class amenities, including a private student concourse, courtside and baseline seating for students, three premium club areas for fans, and over 1,700 premium seats all within an intimate seating bowl. The Pavilion features the largest center hung video display in college basketball at approximately 2,400 square feet of LED space.

Ole Miss men’s basketball team comes into the game with a record of 10-3 and 0-1 in SEC. Last time on the court, the Rebels lost to Kentucky in Rupp Arena.

Senior Stefan Moody leads the SEC, and ranks sixth nationally in scoring at 23.7 ppg this year. He has scored 20-plus points in eight-straight games, which is the best streak in school history since 1992. Moody has broke the 30-point mark twice and has made a 3-pointer in 27-straight games, which is the fourth-longest streak in school history.

In the past nine seasons under coach Andy Kennedy the Rebels leads the conference in scoring, averaging just under 75.0 points a game.

The Crimson Tide is 9-3 after wrapping up a non-conference play with a 68-49 victory over Norfolk State this past Saturday. The game tonight is Alabama’s SEC opener. The Tide is led by senior guard Retin Obasohan, who is averaging a team-best 13.4 ppg and tied a career high with 23 points in the win over Norfolk State.

Junior forward Shannon Hale is the only other Crimson Tide player scoring in double figures at 11.7 ppg, while fellow junior forward Jimmy Taylor has pulled down a team-best 70 boards.

Alabama is limiting opponents to shooting just 38.8 percent from the field, but has a -2.9 rebounding margin on the year and is last in the league averaging 34.5 rebounds a game. The Tide is also last in the league in scoring at 66.4 ppg.

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

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