Ole Miss vs. Queens: How to watch, start time, TV channel

Ole Miss basketball hosts Queens on Saturday in the first of two final non-conference matchups before SEC play tips off against Georgia January 4. 

The No. 17 Rebels (10-1) will be facing off against the Royals (7-5) for the first time in history. They lost their first-ever meeting with Purdue earlier this season, but came away with a win in their first matchup with Lindenwood.

Game time is set for 4 p.m. CT on SEC Network+. The Top 4 scorers currently for the veteran-laden Rebels are in either their fourth or fifth year of college. 

“We do believe there’s a relationship between experience and winning,” second-year Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said Friday in an interview with ‘Field of 68.’

“You definitely have to have younger players in your program to develop. The bloodline is always going to be high-school recruiting. But we absolutely wanted to give this year’s team a chance by having enough experience to be successful in this SEC, which is going to be a gauntlet.”

The Rebels feature seven players who’ve scored over 1,000 career points. 

Ole Miss has 10 seniors and returned the fourth-highest minutes-per-game average (284.3) of all Power 5 programs. The roster has played in nearly 1,000 career games, with over 500 starts. 

Ole Miss is one of just 18 teams in the country with five or more players in at least their fifth season.

“I was really proud of last year’s team,” Beard said. The Rebels won 20 games for the first time in five years but missed the NCAA Tournament. “The league was really good. We were competitive (and) basically missed the tournament by a game or two. 

“We just have a better mix right now. That’s normally true in Year 2.”

RELATED: ‘Could be really special’: Ole Miss freshman Eduardo Klafke continues to shine in his role

HOW TO WATCH

Television/Online: SEC Network+
Play-by-Play: Jake Hromada
Color: Kermit Davis

HOW TO LISTEN

Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: David Kellum
Color: Marc Dukes

SCOUTING QUEENS

Queens comes to Oxford with wins over Lynchburg, Western Carolina, South Carolina-Upstate, Virginia Military Institute, Carolina, Gardner-Webb and Mercer. 

The Royals are riding a four-game winning streak. They’ll open ASUN play following their trip to Ole Miss.

Queens is led in scoring by Fresno State transfer Leo Colimerio (10.9 points per game). Colimerio has scored double-digit points in six of the last seven games. He had a 27-point performance in the win over Gardner-Webb. Colimerio is fresh off a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds) against Mercer. 

Malcolm Wilson is a 7-footer and the Royals’ top rebounder. He leads all of college basketball in blocks (48). He’s swatting away 4.0 per game and has recorded five or more in six games. Queens, as a team, is totaling 5.4 blocks per outing, good for No. 18 nationally.

Grant Leonard is 39-39 in three seasons as the head coach of the Royals. He previously served Queens as associate head coach, as well as an assistant. Adam Short, an assistant on Leonard’s staff, was an Ole Miss graduate assistant last season.

OLE MISS TIP-INS

Ole Miss’ remaining strength of schedule is ranked No. 2 in college basketball by ESPN’s Basketball Power Index. … The Rebels have won 10 of their first 11 for the eighth time in school history. … Ole Miss is one of just two schools in the country holding a spot in the AP Top 25 in each of football and men’s and women’s basketball. … Veteran Ole Miss guard Jaylen ‘Juju’ Murray is 12th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.71). … The most recent bracket projections from ESPN have Ole Miss as a 6-seed in the NCAA Tournament.