Ole Miss vs. Georgia – Game Preview

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

Ole Miss returns to the court on Saturday as they travel to Athens, Georgia, to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in an SEC tilt in Stegeman Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. on SEC Network.

Ole Miss (8-7, 3-5 SEC) looks to rebound from an early loss this season in Oxford.

The Rebels are coming off of a 74-59 loss at Arkansas on Wednesday night. Jarkel Joiner scored 11 points and became the fourth Rebel on the team to have 1,000 points over his Division I career, joining Dimencio Vaughn (1,266), Shuler (1,134) and Romello White (1,075).

This season, Ole Miss’ backcourt of Devntae Shuler and Jarkel Joiner have accounted for 148 of the team’s 258 points (57.4%) over the past four games; Shuler has averaged 20.5 ppg, while Joiner has recorded 16.5 ppg.

In SEC play, the Rebels rank second in scoring defense (62.5), turnover margin (+3.5) and turnovers forced per game (16.9). Ole Miss is the only SEC team to have two players ranked in the conference’s top five in steals. Shuler is third with 1.8 per game, and Luis Rodriguez is fourth with 1.7 per game.

Georgia is 9-6 overall and 2-6 in conference play coming off back-to-back losses to Florida (92-84) and South Carolina (83-59).

The Bulldogs are the best team in the league to force turnovers as they average 17.4 a game, and the Rebels are right behind them at 16.9 per game.

Georgia is led by K.D. Johnson who is averaging 15.0 points per night. Coach Tom Crean has five players averaging double figures. 

Saturday’s game will be the 121st all-time meeting between the Rebels and the Bulldogs. Georgia leads the all-time series at 75-45. Coach Kermit Davis is 2-0 with the Rebels at Stegeman.