By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com
The Ole Miss basketball team heads to the Music City as the No. 12 seed in the SEC Tournament and will take the court this evening against No. 13 seed the Georgia Bulldogs. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. on SEC Network.
Ole Miss (15-16, 6-12 SEC) comes into the tourney after falling to Mississippi State 69-44 in Starkville on Saturday.
Senior Breein Tyree is the SEC’s leading active scorer with 1,779 career points and is ranked seventh on the Ole Miss all-time scoring list. He is also sixth in program history in three-pointers made (204). The Somerset, NJ native averages 22.2 ppg in SEC play to rank second in the conference; he increased his scoring output from non-conference to SEC play in each of his four seasons.
Georgia enters the first-round game with a 15-16 record, including a 5-13 mark in SEC play. The Bulldogs are coming off back-to-back setbacks from Florida and LSU, but they won three of four prior to the losing week.
The Bulldogs are led by SEC Freshman of the Year Anthony Edwards, who averages 19.5 ppg to sit third in the conference in scoring behind Tyree. Edwards has taken more shots than any other player in the SEC (492), while making the second-most as well (201). Junior Rayshaun Hammonds adds 12.6 ppg to go along with a team-high 7.3 rpg.
Tonight’s game will be the 119th meeting between the two schools as Georgia holds a 73-45 lead in the series. The series has been close as of late with Ole Miss winning 11 times over the past 21 matchups, including victories in the last three contests. The winning streak is Ole Miss’ longest in the series since taking four straight from 1988-90.
Ole Miss claimed a 70-60 victory in Athens (Jan. 25), the only meeting this season. The Bulldogs have won 8 of the 10 SEC Tournament matchups between the two, but Ole Miss has the biggest victory. Despite Dominique Wilkins scoring 20 points to help Georgia jump out to a 38-30 lead, the Rebels rallied back to beat the Bulldogs 66-62 in the 1981 SEC Tournament championship game. Elston Turner scored 22 points to lead Ole Miss to its first SEC Tournament crown in program history.
Back in January, Ole Miss defeated the Bulldogs 70-60 in a hostile environment at Stegeman Coliseum. The Rebel trio of Tyree (20), Khadim Sy (16), and KJ Buffen (14) combined for 50 points.
Fans can watch all the action on SEC Network or listen to the call on the Ole Miss Radio Network.
