By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com
The Ole Miss Rebels travel down to Baton Rouge to take on the No. 22 LSU Tigers in an SEC showdown. Tip-off is slated for 11 a.m. today on ESPN 2.
Photo by Petre Thomas/Ole Miss Athletics
Ole Miss (10-10, 1-6 SEC) is coming off of a heartbreaking one point 83-82 loss to the Auburn Tigers at home.
“I’m proud of the effort,” Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis said. “Up 19, so many plays happening in the game you’ve gone up 17 with twelve minutes to go and then less than two minutes to go the game is at 5. So, we did what we could with that, got it back, even losing Breein and Khadim, our team battled at the end, we had our chances. The team is getting better, moral victories, obviously the task is getting bigger on Saturday, playing one of the highest rated teams in college basketball.”
LSU (16-4, 7-0 SEC) remains as the only remaining unbeaten team in SEC action. As a team, the Tigers lead the SEC in field goal percentage (48.0) and free throw percentage (77.5). Both marks rank top 20 nationally. They are also 16th in the country in scoring offense, averaging 80.1 ppg. Skylar Mays paces the offense with 15.9 ppg, while averaging 2.1 spg on the defensive side of the floor. Emmitt Williams adds 14.0 ppg, shooting 60.4 percent from the field (24th nationally). Three other Tigers average double figures to lead the balanced scoring attack: Trendon Watford (13.4 ppg), Darius Days (11.7 ppg) and Javonte Smart (11.7 ppg).
“They’ve been a great home team, they’ve got skill, size, learn how to win, probably played the best basketball I’ve seen them play against Alabama, fishing all the areas and kind of closed Alabama out,” Davis said.
On Saturday, this will be the 212th all-time meeting between the Rebels and the Tigers. LSU leads the all-time series 123-88. The Rebels have won eight of the last 15 meetings over the Bayou Bengals, but LSU has won the past three in Baton Rouge. LSU holds an 80-29 advantage on its home court, and Ole Miss will be looking for its first win in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center since 2013.
Fans can watch all the action on ESPN 2 or listen to the call on the Ole Miss Radio Network.
