Rebels Prepare to Tangle with Florida in the Sunshine State

Ole Miss defeated Vanderbilt
Photo by Jack Olstad

Today, the Ole Miss Rebels basketball team will travel down to Gainesville, Florida to tangle with the Gators. The tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. and ESPNU will show the game.

Ole Miss (15-8, 5-5 SEC) enters this game on a two-game winning streak after defeating Vanderbilt 85-78 Saturday night.

Stefan Moody leads the SEC, and ranks seventh nationally, in scoring at 23.5 ppg this year. He had his 20-plus point per game scoring streak snapped at 14 games at Kansas State, which is tied for the third-longest streak in school history. Moody has broken the 30-point mark three times this season and has made a 3-pointer in 36-straight games, which is the fourth-longest streak in school history and tied for the 12th-best streak in SEC history. He also leads league in the scoring in SEC play averaging 24.7 ppg.

The Gators are 15-8 and 6-4 in the SEC after falling 80-61 to Kentucky on the road Saturday, but had five of their last six games before the set back at Rupp. Florida is led by senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith, who is averaging a team-best 15.5 points and 8.2 rebounds a game. The Gators have three players scoring in double figures and three players pulling down at least 5.7 boards a game. Memphis native and sophomore guard Chris Chiozza leads the team with 107 assists and ranks third in the league with a 3.1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Florida ranks second in the conference in scoring defense allowing just 64.4 ppg, but ranks next to last in the league in free throw percentage, shooting just 64.6 percent from the line. The Gators ranks fourth in the SEC in rebounding margin at +2.9, while Ole Miss is sixth in the league at +2.2.

Last year, Ole Miss ranked third in the nation hitting 77.3 percent of its free throw attempts and the Rebels have picked up with they left off hitting 71.3 percent this year, which ranks fourth in the league. Ole Miss hit 40 of 53 attempts against Georgia Southern, which was the second-most attempts in a game in school history and tied for the second-most made.

Senior guard Stefan Moody, who led the SEC and ranked seventh in the nation a year ago shooting 90.7 percent (149 of 165), ranks fourth in the league this season hitting 85.1 percent (154 of 181) of his attempts. His 154 free throw made this year is also ranks sixth in the nation and he has converted 16-straight attempts from the line. Moody ranks second all time in Ole Miss history with an 87.6 career free throw percentage(min. 200 attempts).

Fans can watch all the action on ESPNU or listen to the call on Ole Miss Radio Network.

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

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