5 Things To Know About Ole Miss

Tonight, Kentucky hosts the Ole Miss Rebel Black Bear Landsharks in the final home game of the 2021-22 season. If the Cats win, they will finish the year with an undefeated record in Rupp Arena for the 14th time in program history, the sixth time in the John Calipari Era. Even though Kentucky is a heavy favorite (16.5 points), anything can happen and a loss to Ole Miss would be in Quad 3, a resume buster. As we count down ’til tipoff, here are five things to know about Kermit Davis’ squad.

1. Not good on offense, not good on defense

In Kermit Davis’ fourth season as coach, Ole Miss is 13-16 on the season, 4-12 in SEC play. The Rebels average 68.5 points per game, which ranks 13th in the SEC ahead of only Missouri. On the defensive end, they are holding opponents to 68.2 points per game, well below Kentucky’s season average of 80.3. The Rebels are 13th in the SEC in defensive efficiency and allow opponents to hit 44.9% of their shots. Statistically, they don’t really stand out in any category. They shoot 32.8% from three, which ranks third in the SEC behind Kentucky and Tennessee, and average 7.1 made threes per contest. On the glass, they average 34.1 rebounds per game, which ranks 11th in the SEC. The Cats are No. 1 with an average of 40.8 boards per game.

2. They lost one of their best players a month ago

Former McDonald’s All-American Daeshun Ruffin suffered a season-ending knee injury in Ole Miss’ win over LSU on Feb. 3. He missed the first eight games of the season after breaking his right hand in the season-opener. Ruffin, the first McDonald’s All-American to ever sign with Ole Miss, was averaging 12.6 points, 3.4 assists, and a team-high 2.3 steals per game. Since then, the Rebels have lost six of seven, their only win coming over Georgia.

3. A hometown kid leads the way

Jarkel Joiner joined the Rebels in 2019 after two seasons at CSU Bakersfield. The Oxford native won Mississippi Boys Basketball Player of the Year in 2017. Now a senior for the Rebels, he leads the team in scoring with 14.2 points per game. He missed 10 games this season due to injury and illness but dropped 33 points in Ole Miss’ loss at Alabama on Feb. 9. He hit six of Ole Miss’ season-high 12 threes in that game, so he’s capable of getting hot from the outside.

With Ruffin now out of the lineup, Ole Miss’ next leading scorer is sophomore Matthew Murrell, who averages 11.4 points per game. He’s scored in double figures in five of the last six games. In the one he didn’t, at Auburn on Feb. 23, he left the game after taking an elbow to the head just before the end of the first half and didn’t return. He and Joiner missed the prior game (vs. Georgia) with the flu.

In the middle, the Rebels are led by seven-foot center Nysier Brooks, a grad transfer that averages 9.9 points and team-high 7.7 rebounds per game. He pulls down an average of 2.8 offensive boards a game, which ranks third in the SEC behind Oscar Tshiebwe (5.4) and Florida’s Colin Castleton (3.1). Brooks came to Ole Miss from Miami but played his first three seasons at Cincinnati.

4. Blast from the past: Jaemyn Brakefield

You’ll probably know at least one name on Ole Miss’ roster. Sophomore forward Jaemyn Brakefield transferred to Oxford from Duke. Once upon a time, he was a Kentucky recruit. He said more than once that Kentucky was his dream school growing up, but never received an offer. After a lackluster freshman year at Duke, he left for Ole Miss and is now a starter, averaging 8.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting 47.5% from the floor. He’ll be looking for his Rupp moment tonight.

5. They won the last meeting

Kentucky leads the series 108-14, but Ole Miss won the last time out. On March 2, 2021, the Rebels beat the Cats 70-62 in Oxford, snapping an 11-game Kentucky winning streak in the series. Kentucky is 55-2 against Ole Miss in Lexington, winning the last 12.

BONUS: This thing is still their mascot

His name is Tony in honor of Tony Fein, a former Ole Miss football player and United States Army veteran that led the Rebels to nine wins and a Cotton Bowl victory in 2008 and died the next year from a drug overdose. Fein made the landshark hand symbol famous during his time in Oxford, hence the nickname (and somewhat creepy mascot).