Headlines
Ole Miss Host Florida Gulf Coast to Close the 2018 Calendar Year
By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com
Terence Davis and teammates cheer on the Rebels. Photo by Joshua McCoy / Ole Miss Athletics
The Ole Miss men’s basketball team will close out the 2018 calendar year against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. inside the Pavilion.
Ole Miss (9-2) comes into this game after a 74-56 win over Middle Tennessee in the Music City. Junior guard Breein Tyree led the Rebels in scoring with 24 points.
Senior Terence Davis ranks ninth in scoring (15.1 ppg), field goal shooting (48.8 percent) and assists (4.1 per game).
Ole Miss has shot over 50 percent in seven games this year, surpassing its total from all of last season (5). The Rebels are one of five teams to rank top 30 nationally in both field goal percentage (50.6) and free throw percentage (75.9), ranking ninth and 29th in the country, respectively.
FGCU enters Saturday’s matchup with a 5-9 record. The Eagles are coming off a 77-56 setback to Florida (Dec. 22), which snapped a three-game winning streak. Prior to the trio of victories, FGCU had lost six straight. The Eagles and Rebels have one common opponent in the non-conference slate. FGCU opened up the season at Illinois State, falling to the Redbirds 74-66 (Nov. 6). Ole Miss won beat ISU 81-74 at Redbird Arena on Dec. 8.
As a team, the Eagles lead the Atlantic Sun in total steals while matching the Rebels at 7.3 steals per game. Senior guard Dinero Mercurius paces the team and ranks 56th nationally with 24 steals on the year. In terms of scoring, fellow senior guards Haanif Cheatham and Schadrac Casimir post 13.2 ppg and 12.1 ppg, respectively. Michael Fly is in his first season as the head coach at FGCU after spending the past five seasons as an assistant coach for the Eagles.
This is the first ever meeting on the court for the Rebels and the Eagles.
Fans can watch all action of the game on SEC Network + or listen to the call on the Ole Miss Radio Network.
| Mon, Nov 4 |  | vs Long Island University | W, 90-60 |
| Fri, Nov 8 |  | vs Grambling | W, 66-64 |
| Tue, Nov 12 |  | vs South Alabama | W, 64-54 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Colorado State | W, 84-69 |
| Thu, Nov 21 |  | vs Oral Roberts | L, 100-68 |
| Thu, Nov 28 |  | vs BYU | W, 96-85 OT |
| Fri, Nov 29 |  | vs 13 Purdue | L, 80-78 |
| Tue, Dec 3 |  | @ Louisville | W, 86-63 |
| Sat, Dec 7 |  | vs Lindenwood | W, 86-53 |
| Sat, Dec 14 |  | vs Southern Miss | W, 77-46 |
| Tue, Dec 17 |  | vs Southern | W, 74-61 |
| Sat, Dec 21 |  | vs Queens University | W, 80-62 |
| Sat, Dec 28 |  | @ Memphis | L, 87-70 |
| Sat, Jan 4 |  | vs Georgia | W, 63-51 |
| Wed, Jan 8 |  | @ 23 Arkansas | W, 73-66 |
| Sat, Jan 11 |  | vs LSU | W, 77-65 |
| Tue, Jan 14 |  | @ 5 Alabama | W, 74-64 |
| Sat, Jan 18 |  | @ 17 Mississippi State | L, 81-84 |
| Wed, Jan 22 |  | vs 13 Texas A&M | L, 62-63 |
| Sat, Jan 25 |  | @ Missouri | L, 83-75 |
| Wed, Jan 29 |  | vs Texas | W, 72-69 |
| Sat, Feb 1 |  | vs 2 Auburn | L, 92-82 |
| Tue, Feb 4 |  | vs 10 Kentucky | W, 98-84 |
| Sat, Feb 8 | | @ LSU | 7:30 PM SECN |
| Wed, Feb 12 |  | @ South Carolina | 6:00 PM SECN |
| Sat, Feb 15 | | vs 17 Mississippi State | 5:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Feb 22 |  | @ Vanderbilt | 2:30 PM SECN |
| Wed, Feb 26 | | @ 2 Auburn | 6:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Mar 1 |  | vs 12 Oklahoma | 1:00 PM TBA |
| Wed, Mar 5 |  | vs 1 Tennessee | 8:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Mar 8 |  | @ 6 Florida | 5:00 PM SECN |