On3 Things to Know: Brakefield a rock for Ole Miss basketball over 7-2 start

Ole Miss basketball will continue a five-game homestand when it hosts UCF at 6:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday.

The Rebels are 7-2 overall following a dominating win over Valparaiso — the first meeting between the teams since the notorious 1998 NCAA Tournament upset. Ole Miss won easily, 98-61, and set a new program record for points scored in the SJB Pavilion.

The Rebels never trailed in the game and dominated such secondary stats as points off turnovers (36 to 0), points in the paint (64 to 26), fastbreak points (20 to 2) and points off the bench (54 to 25).

“I thought we shared the balls, finished some balls in transition,” head coach Kermit Davis said afterwards. “That’s going to be a big part of us going forward is creating offense from good defense.”

UCF is 7-2, and the game will be broadcast by SEC Network+. An Ole Miss win would give the Rebels eight wins before the New Year for just the fourth time in head coach Kermit Davis’ five seasons at the helm.

Let’s take a deeper dive into the matchup, with game notes provided by Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations.

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SERIES HISTORY VS. CENTRAL FLORIDA

The UCF Knights and Ole Miss Rebels have met three times previously — all Ole Miss wins. The first came in the 2007-08 season, and all-time Ole Miss great Chris Warren led the way in a 76-67 win. Warren scored 18 points on four made threes.

They faced off again, in Oxford, in November of 2008. David Huertas finished with 24 points as Ole Miss closed out a 78-46 laugher. They last met the following season, and Ole Miss secured an 84-56 win.

Ole Miss owns a 69-point advantage in the series (238-169, +23 margin of victory per game).

Last Meeting: January 5, 2010 | W, 84-56 | Oxford, Miss. | Tad Smith Coliseum)

• Ole Miss entered play with an 11-2 record and ranked No. 14 in the AP Top 25. The Rebels rolled with a 28-point victory. The Rebels took an early 8-0 lead, which they pushed to 46-24 by halftime.

• Sophomore Terrico White led all Rebels with his 21 points. He made five threes.

• Junior guard Chris Warren scored his 1,000th career point on a free throw midway through the second half. In all, he finished with 14 points, four assists, a block, and a steal.

• Murphy Holloway recorded one of his 39 career double-doubles, which rank second all-time at Ole Miss. Holloway had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

RENAISSANCE MAN

Senior transfer Myles Burns has made an immediate impact for the Rebels on both ends of the floor.

Burns, a transfer from Loyola New Orleans, has flashed a unique talent blend as a defensive force and a go-getter on the offensive glass. He ranks second in the SEC and No. 8 in the NCAA with 2.8 steals per game. He’s also ninth in the conference with 2.56 offensive rebounds per game.

CONSISTENCY KEY FOR BRAKEFIELD

Junior forward Jaemyn Brakefield has been a rock for Ole Miss over its 7-2 start.

Brakefield, a second-year transfer from Duke, currently leads the Rebels in field-goal shooting (59.6 percent, min. 40 attempts), and he’s third on the team in points per game (9.1 points).

He was even more steady in Orlando for the ESPN Events Invitational two weeks ago.

Brakefield had 13.0 points and paced Ole Miss with 8.3 rebounds. He shot 55.6 percent overall and 44.4 percent from three, and he became one of just three players in the SEC this season to go at least 6 for 6 from the field.

Brakefield made all six of shot attempts against Florida Atlantic November 11 — his first of three, season-high 17-point games this year.

LIGHTS OUT

Ole Miss has lit the net on fire through nine games.

The Rebels have shot at least 50 percent from the floor in four games and at least 45 percent in six. They were especially hot in Orlando, shooting 48.5 percent overall — aided by two games shooting 50 percent or better. It was the first two-game stretch at or above 50 percent since the Rebels opened the 2021-22 campaign against New Orleans (.531) and Charleston Southern (.507).

Ole Miss is 33-5 overall when shooting 50 percent or better under Davis.

WHEN IT COUNTS

Ole Miss has been especially strong in the second half of games this season.

The Rebels are shooting 49.4 percent overall in the back half and outscoring opponents 355-293 (39.4 points per second half, +6.9 scoring margin). Additionally, they’ve put up a +4.3 rebounding margin over the same span, while junior Matthew Murrell is averaging 8.2 points and 1.3 threes. At the ESPN Events Invitational,

Ole Miss shot a combined 55 percent in the ESPN Events Invitation. True freshman point guard Amaree Abram poured in 14.3 points, on average, per second half. Abram was also 5for 6 from three and 6 for 6 from the free throw line.

MM11

Murrell has wasted no time lighting the net on fire this season, picking up right where he left off a year ago as one of the most feared three-point shooters nationwide.

Murrell is ninth in the SEC in threes per game (2.3) and seventh in total threes made (21). He a career-high six threes in a win over Chattanooga — the most by a Rebel since Devontae Shuler had six threes against Wichita State in January of 2021.

Murrell’s 25-point game against the Mocs was his sixth career 20-point outing. All have come within his last 25 games played dating back to last season.

BEST OF THE BEST

Ole Miss’ four senior transfers are among some of the best returning big men in all of college basketball. 

Jackson State transfer forward Jayveous McKinnis is one of the most accomplished returners in the nation. He’s currently third in total rebounds (1,041), fifth in total blocks (239), fifth in career double-doubles (38), eighth in rebounds per game (9.3), 10th in blocks per game (2.1) and 22nd in field goal shooting (.609).

McKinnis is one of just four active players in all of college basketball with 1,000 career rebounds. He’s joined by South Alabama’s Kevin Samuel (1,131), North Carolina’s Armando Bacot (1,103) and Nicholls’ Manny Littles (1,040). He’s also just one of three (alongside Samuel and Bacot) with 1,000 career points (1,116) and 1,000 career rebounds.

Ole Miss is one of two schools with multiple Top 20 rebounders on the active career list.

The other is Texas Tech. McKinnis (1,041) and first-year Buffalo transfer forward Josh Mballa (815; No. 19) have a combined 1,856 career rebounds between them — the most by a pair of Division I teammates, ahead of Texas Tech’s 1,853.

Ole Miss is also ranked highly on the career blocks list.

The Rebels have two ranked in the Top 10 in McKinnis (fifth, 239) and Theo Akwuba (ninth, 191). Ole Miss is one of just two schools with multiple Top 25 active blockers. The other is Gardner-Webb, but Ole Miss is the only school with two in the Top 10.

AIN’T WASTING NO MORE TIME

Ole Miss has eight new faces this season, and the Rebels newcomers are already seeing serious minutes.

Newcomer Splits
Minutes: 52.3% (941 of 1800)
Scoring: 48.5% (316 of 651)
Rebounding: 49.6% (169 of 341)
Assists: 51.2% (63 of 123)
Steals: 62.7% (52 of 83)
Blocks: 76.5% (26 of 34)

Newcomer Scoring
vs. Alcorn State: 29 of 73 (39.7%)
Florida Atlantic: 36 of 80 (45.0%)
Chattanooga: 33 of 70 (47.1%)
UT Martin: 35 of 72 (48.6%)
Stanford: 48 of 72 (66.7%)
Siena: 37 of 74 (50.0%)
Stanford: 39 of 55 (70.1%)
at Memphis: 32 of 57 (56.1%)
vs. Valparaiso: 27 of 98 (27.6%)