Rebel Hoops Battle Mizzou in Pavilion for Senior Night

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

Ole Miss welcomes the Missouri Tigers for senior night this evening inside the Pavilion. The Rebels will honor their lone senior Breein Tyree prior to the 8 p.m. tip-off on SEC Network.

Tonight is senior night for Breein Tyree and the Rebels as they take the court against Mizzou. Photo by Joshua McCoy / Ole Miss Athletics.

“Senior night is going to be a special moment for me,” Tyree said. “I have never experienced it, only in high school.”

Ole Miss’ (14-15, 5-11 SEC) shooting guard is the leading active scorer in the league with 1,749 career points. The Somerset, NJ native has made 34 of his last 35 from the charity stripe.

“(There were) a bunch of stepping stones coming in as a freshman and having an OK year after my injury to my growth to now with all the confidence,” Tyree said. “It shows that the work really pays off with the team and individually. (Tonight) is my last time in the Pavilion and it is crazy to think about.”

Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis has been on both sides with Tyree as they played against him as a freshman and sophomore and now he is coaching him.

“Not too many times you get to do that,” Davis said. “He was not even on our scouting report, but he took the ball right downhill and dunked it on us and had a big second half. Watching the things he has done here under Andy Kennedy for two years and now a kid from Somerset, NJ to Oxford, MS is pretty special.

Missouri (14-15, 6-10) has alternated wins and losses over their past four games, most recently coming off a loss at home to Mississippi State (67-63). Wednesday’s contest will be a battle of teams who defend the long ball. While the Rebels rank 17th nationally in three-point defense (29.2 percent), Missouri ranks 15th (29.1 percent). Missouri also ranks 11th in the country in free throw percentage (77.8 percent).

Junior guard Dru Smith leads the Tigers in scoring (12.7 ppg), assists (3.8 per game) and steals (2.1 per game). His 61 steals to lead the SEC and rank 20th nationally. Xavier Pinson (11.0 ppg) and Mark Smith (10.1 ppg) are the only other Tigers averaging double figures.

Ole Miss and Missouri have met just 15 times with all 15 meetings coming since the Tigers joined the SEC in 2012-13. The Rebels lead the all-time series 12-3 and have won 11 of the last 13 that includes sweeping the home-and-home series last season. Ole Miss and Mizzou have squared off six times in Oxford, with the Rebels holding a 5-1 advantage that includes a 3-1 mark in The Pavilion. Ole Miss won at home last year, 75-65. Missouri’s lone victory over Ole Miss in Oxford occurred Feb. 6, 2018. The two teams are playing a home-and-home series for the fifth consecutive season.

Fans not able to make it to the Pavilion can watch all the action of the game on SEC Network or listen to the call on the Ole Miss Radio Network. Follow HottyToddySprts on Twitter for live game updates.