Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Plays Host to Missouri

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

Ole Miss men’s basketball returns to action this evening as they play host to the Missouri Tigers. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and can be seen on the SEC Network.

Ole Miss (9-10, 1-6 SEC) is coming off of a 69-57 loss at No. 25 Arkansas on Saturday. Against the Razorbacks the Rebels were led by Jayveous McKinnis and Daeshun Ruffin who each posted ten points.

Entering the game against Missouri, senior transfer Myles Burns has recorded 399 collegiate steals in his basketball career. Joining the Ole Miss program from Loyola New Orleans of the NAIA, Burns brought 358 steals from his four-year NAIA All-American career and has collected 41 since coming to Oxford. Counting his stats from the NAIA, Burns would become just the sixth person in NCAA history across all divisions to collect 400 career steals. 

Missouri enters their contest with Ole Miss with a 14-5 record overall, going 3-4 in the SEC. The Tigers won nine straight to begin the season before falling to No. 6 Kansas at the Hy-Vee Hoops Border Showdown on Dec. 10. Victories over UCF and No. 16 Illinois sent the Tigers into conference play, where they started with an 89-75 win over No. 19 Kentucky. Since their SEC-opener Missouri has lost to Arkansas, Texas A&M, Florida, and Alabama, picking up wins over Vanderbilt and Arkansas.

Four Tigers average 10 or more points per game this season, led by Kobe Brown at 15.7 per contest. The senior forward also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 5.6 per contest.

Missouri’s offense averages 83.1 points per game, which ranks 13th in the nation and second in the conference. Led by D’Moi Hodge at an SEC-best 2.5 steals per game, the Tigers lead the country with an average of 11.4 per contest, forcing a conference-high 18.5 turnovers per game. Missouri also ranks highly in assist-to-turnover ratio (15th, 1.46), assists per game (16th, 16.9), and fast break points (12th, 16.0).

Ole Miss and Missouri met for the first time in January of 2013 after the Tigers joined the SEC, with the Rebels earning a win at home over No. 10 Missouri 64-49 in the Tad Pad. After losing the second matchup a month later, Ole Miss won the next eight contests beginning and ending with victories in the SEC Tournament. The Tigers have gotten the best of the Rebs recently, winning the previous three matchups.