Ole Miss guard Jaylen Murray, a former Peacock, has an opportunity to be a super-villain

Ole Miss junior point guard Jaylen Murray is part of the trio of elite scorers in the Rebels’ backcourt this season, averaging 14.3 points per game, the 16th-best mark in the entire Southeastern Conference. Murray knocks down the 3 to pump up his point totals. Heading into tonight’s game at Kentucky, he ranks fifth in the SEC in 3-pointers made with 54 already in 2023-24, seven shy of Antonio Reeves’ SEC second-best 61.

Murray averages 2.35 made 3-pointers per contest for the year, but his hand has gotten hotter as the season continues. He has two or more 3s in 11 of the last 13 games, shooting 45.5 percent in that span. 54 of his 117 made shots at Ole Miss have come from beyond the arc.

More than an outside shooter, Murray is also a facilitator. The 5-foot-11 general leads Ole Miss with four assists per game, playing alongside top-10 scoring guards Matthew Murrell (16.8 ppg) and Allen Flanigan (15.7 ppg). He takes care of the ball while leading Ole Miss’s offense, ranking third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.51). He ranks seventh in assists (4.04).

A Familiar Face To Kentucky

Now for why we are really talking about Jaylen Murray hours before tip-off: we have history. If the name or face is familiar, it is likely because Murray played two years at Saint Peter’s before he transferred to Oxford, Mississippi, to play for Chris Beard last summer. Murray’s two years as a Peacock include the 2022 NCAA Tournament when he played 19 minutes for Saint Peter’s in the first-round upset of Kentucky.

Only a freshman at the time, Murray scored eight points against Kentucky’s older backcourt, hitting both of his 3-point tries in the game. His second 3 was the Peacocks’ first go-ahead score with nine minutes left in regulation. I’d share the replay to complement the storytelling here, but nobody wants to watch that again.

Tonight, Murray has the rare opportunity to give John Calipari and the Big Blue Nation a second crushing loss in as many meetings. The Wildcats can’t let that happen. Kentucky can’t lose four in a row at home in Rupp Arena, and Jaylen Murray can’t be responsible for another upset.