No. 25 Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Hosts No. 14 Kentucky Tuesday Night

OXFORD, Miss. – (Release) Another big-time matchup is set to take center stage in Oxford on Tuesday night, as the No. 25 Ole Miss men’s basketball team welcomes No. 14 Kentucky to the SJB Pavilion at 6 p.m., televised on ESPN.

Team Facts

No. 25 Ole Miss Rebels (Record: 16-6, 5-4 SEC)

Head Coach: Chris Beard • 2nd Season at Ole Miss (36-18) • 273-116 career record (13th Season)

No. 14/14 Kentucky Wildcats (Record: 15-6, 4-4 SEC)

Head Coach: Mark Pope • 1st Season at Kentucky (15-6) • 202-114 career record (10th Season)

On the Air

Television/Online: ESPN

Play-by-Play: Karl Ravech; Analyst: Jimmy Dykes; Reporter: Molly McGrath

Ole Miss Radio

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

Series history vs. Kentucky

A battle that has gone Kentucky’s way for a majority of history, Ole Miss began the series winning two of the first three matchups from 1925 to 1928. The Wildcats lead 111-14 all time, and have won 31 of 42 games played in Oxford. The Rebels’ last win over Kentucky came in 2021 with a 70-62 victory in the SJB Pavilion.

Last meeting: February 13, 2024 (L, 63-75, Lexington, Ky.)

• Ole Miss held a lead over No. 20 Kentucky in their own gym until just under six minutes left in the first half, before eventually falling by 12 in Rupp Arena.

• Matthew Murrell (Ole Miss): 16 points, six rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block.

• Antonio Reeves (Kentucky): 15 points, seven rebounds.

Scouting the Wildcats

The Wildcats bring an overall record of 15-6 and SEC record of 4-4 to Oxford on Tuesday. During their non-conference action, Kentucky picked up key victories over No. 6 Duke, No. 7 Gonzaga, and Louisville. Their four wins during conference play have come over No. 6 Florida, No. 14 Mississippi State, No. 11 Texas A&M, and No. 8 Tennessee. They have fallen to Georgia, No. 4 Alabama, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas. Kentucky currently sits at No. 14 in both the latest national polls, and owns a current NET Ranking of No. 19.

Six different players average double-figure scoring on the season for Kentucky, led by Otega Oweh at 15.6. He is joined by Jaxson Robinson at 13.4 points per game, Lamont Butler at 13.2, Koby Brea at 10.9, Amari Williams at 10.3, and Andrew Carr at 10.0. Williams paces the Wildcats on the boards with an average of 9.0 rebounds per game, the second-best clip in the SEC.

Kentucky owns one of the nation’s most productive offenses, averaging 87.2 points per game, the third-most in all of college basketball. The Wildcats connect on 10.2 three-pointers per game, the 19th-highest clip in the nation, while shooting 37.7 percent from beyond the arc. Their offensive scheme and balance leads to an average of 17.7 assists per game, best in the SEC and 11th in the nation, and they own an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.66, seventh-best in the nation.

Hired in April of 2024 as the newest leader of Kentucky, Mark Pope is in his 10th year overall as an NCAA head coach, coming to Lexington after five seasons at BYU. He won 20 or more games in four of his five seasons with the Cougars, including a 23-win campaign and NCAA Tournament birth last year in BYU’s first year as a member of the Big 12 conference. Prior to his time with BYU, Pope was the head coach of Utah Valley for four seasons, guiding them to 23 and 25 wins in his last two seasons. He got his coaching start as an assistant at BYU from 2011 to 2015, Wake Forest in 2010 to 2011, and Georgia in 2009 to 2010. Pope was a second-round draft pick out of Kentucky, playing for the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Denver Nuggets as a forward.

Poll Rankings

In the latest top-25 polls released Monday, Ole Miss ranks No. 25 in the AP Poll. Ranked No. 15 in the Coaches Poll on December 9, it was the highest ranking in a national poll since the Rebels were No. 14 in the AP Poll on January 4, 2010, and the highest position in the Coaches Poll since they sat in 15th on January 21 in 2008. Their current run of 11 straight weeks in the AP Top 25 is the longest streak since the 2000-01 season.

Battle tested

The schedule for Ole Miss has been, and continues to be, one of the most difficult in the nation. As of February 3, they own the nation’s fifth-toughest remaining strength of schedule according to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index. Their past opposition win percentage of 65.5 ranks ninth-highest in the nation, while their remaining opponent’s win percentage of 73.5 is the seventh highest in all of college basketball. Their cumulative strength-of-schedule win percentage of 67.8 is the fifth highest in the country.

Lunardi’s bracketology

Updated each Tuesday and Friday, the latest bracketology from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Ole Miss as a six seed in the Midwest Region. They are projected by Lunardi to face 11-seed UC Irvine in Milwaukee, Wis., paired with three-seeded Purdue and 14th-seeded Cleveland State. The highest seed for the Ole Miss program came in the 2001 tournament, when they were set as a three seed and reached the Sweet 16. Lunardi’s latest projections has 13 teams from the SEC earning a ticket to the 2025 NCAA Tournament, a number that would be the most for a single conference all time.

NETworking

The 2024-25 NET Rankings made their debut on Monday, December 2 and Ole Miss has since climbed their way to No. 23 in the nation. Since the ranking’s first iteration at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season, their ranking of 13th on January 20 is the highest-ever NET Ranking for the Ole Miss program.

As of February 3, the entire SEC is ranked among the top 100, with 14 of the 16 programs sitting inside the top 50, nine in the top 25, and four in the top 10.