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Rebels Face High-Scoring Virginia Tech on the Hardwood Today
The Ole Miss Rebels welcome one of the best shooting teams in the NCAA when Virginia Tech comes to town for a 1 p.m. tipoff today in the Pavilion.
Ole Miss (4-2) is coming off of a 99-97 heartbreaking loss to South Dakota State on Tuesday. Rebel newcomers Markel Crawford and Devontae Shuler each scored 19 points in the game.
Junior Terence Davis scored 20 of his team-high 22 points in the second half of Tuesday’s game versus South Dakota State. He has double digits in 20 of the last 21 games dating back to last season, including 11 straight.
Virginia Tech enters Saturday’s matchup with a 6-1 record following a 79-55 win over Iowa in the ACC/B1G Challenge. As the top-ranked shooting team in the country (56.1 field goal percentage), the Hokies are receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Virginia Tech also ranks second in the nation in average points per game with 98.7. Leading the charge are guards Justin Bibbs (19.8 ppg) and Ahmed Hill (19.6 ppg). Freshman guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker also averages 15.1 pgg, while forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. is scoring 12.0 ppg to go along with a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game.
The Hokies are coming off a 2016-17 campaign in which they went 22-11 and made the NCAA Tournament. Buzz Williams is in his fourth year guiding the Virginia Tech program, holding a 65-50 record after previously serving as the head coach at Marquette.
Saturday’s game will be the fifth all-time meeting between the Rebels and the Hokies. The series is tied 2-2 after Virginia Tech evened it with an 80-75 win at home last season (Dec. 11, 2016). In previous matchups, Ole Miss won 81-72 in the 2008 NIT Final Four run. Virginia Tech knocked off the Rebels 61-59 in Oxford in the 1982 NIT, and Ole Miss won the first-ever meeting 70-60 in New Orleans in 1979.
By Adam Brown, Sports editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com
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