Ole Miss Basketball announces final non-conference opponent for upcoming season
The Ole Miss Basketball team released the final addition to its 2016-17 non-conference early Thursday morning, and the Rebels will play Sun Belt Conference member South Alabama on Dec. 22. The Jaguars return their top four scorers (Ken Williams, 15.5 ppg; Georgi Boyanov, 10.4 ppg; Nick Stover, 10.1 ppg; and Shaq Calhoun, 8.7 ppg) from last year’s team that finished 14-19.
Ole Miss will begin its 2016-17 season inside The Pavilion on Nov. 11 and will host UT-Martin, then will host Atlantic 10 member UMass on Nov. 14. The Rebels defeated the Minutemen 74-64, behind Stefan Moody’s 30 points, last season, on the road in the Basketball Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase.
Ole Miss will have a short break for three days before it sees its next opponent on Nov. 18 against Oral Roberts in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam.
This will be the Rebels’ second trip to St. Thomas. Ole Miss finished third in the 2011 Paradise Jam. The Rebels’ potential opponents after their first game against the Eagles are North Carolina State, St. Joseph’s and Creighton.
Ole Miss will finish out the month of November with home games against Montana and Middle Tennessee State, the latter who was best known for knocking off Michigan State in last season’s NCAA Tournament. On the third of December, the Rebels will host the Memphis Tigers, who Ole Miss defeated 85-79 last season inside FedEx Forum.
Ole Miss will, then, take a short break away from home and travel to Blacksburg, Virginia to clash with the Virginia Tech Hokies in a matchup between the SEC and the ACC. The Rebels will then have two straight games at home against Murray State (Dec. 15) and Bradley (Dec. 19). Ole Miss defeated the Braves last season 67-54 inside Carver Arena.
On Jan. 28, the Rebels will host the Baylor Bears in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Baylor is one of Ole Miss’ most significant opponents for next season as the Bears have made three Sweet 16 appearances in the last six years and finished last season No. 24 despite falling to Ivy League member Yale in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
| Opponent | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| UT-Martin | November 11, 2016 | Oxford |
| UMass | November 14, 2016 | Oxford |
| Paradise Jam | November 18-21, 2016 | U.S. Virgin Islands |
| Montana | November 24, 2016 | Oxford |
| Middle Tennessee State | November 30, 2016 | Oxford |
| Memphis | December 3, 2016 | Oxford |
| Virginia Tech | December 11, 2016 | Blacksburg, VA |
| Murray State | December 15, 2016 | Oxford |
| Bradley | December 19, 2016 | Oxford |
| South Alabama | December 22, 2016 | Oxford |
| Baylor | January 28, 2017 | Oxford |
Courtney Smith
Courtney is from Memphis and received his Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Memphis in May of 2014. He began his journalism career covering the Memphis Tigers Men's basketball team, which landed him an intern position on 730 Yahoo Sports Radio and a position with Rivals.com. A freelance writer for the Associated Press, Courtney is also a member of The Rebel Walk team and reports regularly on Ole Miss football and basketball. Courtney, the father of a six-year old girl named Soniyah, prefers to cover NCAA basketball and football, but is happy to report on any other sport that comes his way.
