Ole Miss Travels to Columbia, S.C. to Face the South Carolina Gamecocks

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

Ole Miss men’s basketball team travels to Columbia, S.C. on Tuesday to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks in an SEC showdown. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. CT and can be seen on the SEC Network.

Ole Miss (8-9, 0-5 SEC) is coming into the matchup after a hard-fought 62-58 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.  The Rebels were led on the court in scoring by junior Matthew Murrell with 13 points.

This season, Murrell is shooting an impressive 89.7% (52-58) from the free throw line to begin the season, which is tops in the SEC and ranks 24th in the country. As it stands, his current percentage would rank as the fourth-best free throw percentage in a single season at Ole Miss.

Coach Kermit Davis’ squad comes in averaging 12.4 offensive rebounds per game, which has been among the best in the country in earning second chances on the glass, currently ranking 43rd in the nation. The team is led by senior transfer Myles Burns with 39 offensive rebounds (2.3 per game, 7th in the SEC).

South Carolina enters their matchup with the Rebels with an identical 8-9 record. They opened up the 2022-23 campaign with wins over South Carolina State and Clemson before losing three straight. In conference play, the Gamecocks began with losses to Vanderbilt and Tennessee before defeating Kentucky on January 10th 71-68. In their last game, South Carolina fell to Texas A&M 94-53.

Gregory “GG” Jackson II leads USC in scoring, averaging 15.1 points per game and a team-best 6.6 rebounds on the season. One of the top recruits in last year’s class, the freshman has averaged 8.5 points per game in the Gamecock’s four conference games.

 Tuesday will be the 45^th all-time meeting between the two programs. Ole Miss holds a two-game advantage over the Gamecocks at 23-21 in the all-time series, but the two teams are tied at five games apiece over the last 10 meetings.