Ole Miss Looks to Extend Its Home Winning Streak Against Alabama

The Ole Miss Rebels basketball team returns to the confines of the Pavilion Tuesday as they host the Alabama Crimson Tide. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. on the SEC Network.
Ole Miss (10-9, 3-4 SEC) is looking to bounce back from road losses to Texas A&M (71-69) and Arkansas (97-93). The Rebels’ 93 points against the Razorbacks was the team’s best for a road game since 2009. Junior guard Terence Davis scored 30 points in that contest – it was his third career 30-point game and the most recorded by a Rebel this season.
Senior Deandre Burnett is four points away from reaching 1,000 points for his career (801 at Ole Miss plus 195 at Miami). Burnett is averaging 19.7 points per game in the Rebels’ three SEC wins.
The Rebels rank second in the SEC and 23rd nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.4).
Alabama enters Tuesday’s matchup with a 13-6 record and a 5-2 mark in SEC play. After starting off 1-2 in conference play, the Crimson Tide has rattled off four straight wins, including home victories over Auburn (Jan. 17) and Mississippi State (Jan. 20) last week. Averaging 6.3 blocks per game, Alabama leads the SEC and ranks seventh nationally in that category. Freshman guard Collin Sexton leads the team in scoring at 19.3 ppg (second in the SEC), but he has missed the previous two games due to injury.
Fellow freshman John Petty averages 12.4 ppg and stepped up in Sexton’s absence with 27 points in the win over Auburn last week. Dazon Ingram (11.2 ppg) and Donta Hall (10.8 ppg) also average in double figures. Hall leads the Crimson Tide with 41 blocks, ranking second in the conference. Avery Johnson is in his third season as Alabama’s head coach, making the transition to college hoops after seven seasons as a head coach in the NBA.
Tuesday’s game will be the 178th meeting between the two schools. The Crimson Tide holds a 120-57 lead in the series, which began in 1921, but the Rebels have won three of the last five against Alabama as well as the last five games played in Oxford. Ole Miss leads the series 43-38 at home, with its five-game home winning streak in the series dating back to 2010.
Ole Miss and Alabama have only met once in The Pavilion, and it was the first game played in the arena (Jan. 7, 2016). The Rebels opened their new home with a 74-66 victory. Head Coach Andy Kennedy has a 10-9 career record versus the Crimson Tide, including a 7-1 mark in Oxford.

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Adam Brown is the sports editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.
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