GameDay Primer: Ole Miss basketball, running out of time, trips to SEC-cellar-dwelling Missouri

Ole Miss men’s basketball is running out of time to strengthen its once-solid NCAA Tournament resume. 

Just three games remain in the regular season. First up is Missouri in Columbia Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network. 

The Rebels (19-9, 6-9 SEC) have lost three in a row and six of their last seven to now sit as the third team of the ‘Next Four Out’ in ESPN’s latest bracketology. They’re behind Texas A&M and Iowa.

New Mexico, Gonzaga, Seton Hall and Providence are ESPN’s ‘Last Four In,’ followed by a ‘First Four Out’ of Villanova, Utah, Colorado and St. John’s. Ole Miss was dismantled by No. 13 Alabama, 103-88, earlier this week.

SEC-cellar-dwelling Missouri enters with an 8-20 overall record. The Tigers are winless in 15 SEC games.

“The first half (against Alabama) was one of our better halves all season,” first-year head coach Chris Beard said. Ole Miss is just one win away from its 13th 20-win season since 2000. Beard would become the 29th coach in SEC history to win 20 games in his debut campaign.

“I thought we needed to score 90 points to win this game. Probably needed to make nine or 10 threes. Our margin for error just isn’t that great. We can’t give up 14 offensive rebounds (and) turn the ball over 15 times against one of the best teams in the country.”

SERIES HISTORY VS. MISSOURI

Ole Miss and Missouri first met in January of 2013. Missouri had just joined the SEC. 

The Rebels hosted and took down then-No. 10 Missouri, 64-49. Ole Miss dropped the second matchup a month later, but went on to win its next eight games, including those in the SEC Tournament. 

Ole Miss holds a 16-8 series advantage. The Rebels got the better of the Tigers, 79-76, earlier this month. Missouri led by three at the half after holding the Rebels to 34.4 percent shooting from the floor. However, a strong second from Ole Miss fueled a comeback and the Rebels’ 19th overall win.

Matthew Murrell paced Ole Miss with 26 points. He made six threes. Allen Flanigan had a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds), while Jaylen Murray chipped in 16, including four made threes. 

Sean East, II, scored a Missouri-best 25 points. He was a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line. Missouri went 25-30 from the charity stripe in the game. 

SCOUTING THE TIGERS

East, II, is in his fifth season of college basketball and second at Missouri. He’s averaging 17.2 points per game. 

Noah Carter is averaging 5.0 rebounds, the best mark of all Tigers, and scoring, on average, 11.3 points. Tamar Bates is second to East in scoring with his 13.6 points. He’s tops in the SEC (and sixth in the NCAA) in free-throw percentage (91.8).

Missouri is making 79 percent of its free throws, good for second in the SEC and ninth nationally. Four different Tigers have recorded 20 blocks or more this season. They’re averaging 5.0 blocks per game (24th in the NCAA) as a team.

Dennis Gates has won 33 games over his two seasons as Missouri head coach. The Tigers won 25 games last year. Gates served previously as the head coach at Cleveland State for three seasons. He won 50 games with the Vikings and led them to a pair of postseason appearances.

REBEL TIP-INS

Ole Miss is sixth in all of college basketball in blocks per game (5.9). … Jamarion Sharp sits atop the SEC in blocks per game (2.33). He’s second in blocks (63). … Ole Miss is fourth in the SEC in steals per game (8.0). … Jaylen Murray has posted 117 assists to 49 turnovers. He’s fourth in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.39) and sixth in assists per game (4.2). … Ole Miss is shooting 37.6 percent from three this season. The Rebels are 18th nationally in three-point efficiency.