Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Opens the Season Against New Orleans

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

Ole Miss men’s basketball team opens 2021-22 regular season at home as they host New Orleans in the newly named Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be streamed live on SEC Network+.

Ole Miss is coming off a 83-76 exhibition win over Treveeca on Friday night as senior Jarkel Joiner scored 24 points in the contest.

The Rebels added newcomers that feature three transfers with a plethora of college basketball experience. Jaemyn Brakefield (Duke) Nysier Brooks (Miami, FL) and Tye Fagan (Georgia) have played a combined 241 games at the Division I level. Following his freshman season at Duke, Jackson, Mississippi, native Brakefield decided to return home. Brooks brings his rebounding skills to the Rebels after leading the Hurricanes on the glass a season ago. After scoring a team-high 19 points to lead Georgia to a road win over Ole Miss last season, Fagan decided to join the Rebels to provide additional SEC experience to the squad.

Last season, the Rebels led the SEC in scoring defense (65.4), rebounding defense (31.7), defensive rebounding percentage (.721) and offensive rebounding percentage (.341) during conference play. Ole Miss ranked second in the SEC in rebounding margin (+3.4) during conference games.

New Orleans is led on the court by graduate student Derek St. Hilaire will return for his second season on the Lakefront after he made a huge impact during the 2020-21 campaign. St. Hilaire averaged 12.3 points and shot 40.1 percent from three-point range with 2.6 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 25 games.

Last season averaged 76.0 points per game while opponents averaged 76.4 points a night.

The Rebels lead the all-time series vs. New Orleans, 4-1. This marks the first meeting between the Rebels and Privateers since Dec. 6, 2008, when the Rebels went on the road and won, 85-77. This is the first trip to Oxford for New Orleans since Nov. 30, 2006, when Ole Miss prevailed, 78-65.