Ole Miss (9-4) will kick off its Southeastern Conference schedule at home, as it hosts Auburn (8-3) tonight. The Rebels will be without leading scorer Marshall Henderson, as he serves the second phase of his suspension.
They game will tip at 6 p.m. on ESPN2 from Tad Smith Coliseum. Ole Miss is an 11.5 point favorite, according to VegasInsider.com. The Rebels have been double-digit favorites twice this season and won both games. (However, they failed to cover the spread.)
Auburn enters the game with a quality record, but have played the 261st toughest strength of schedule, according to WarrenNolan.com. The Tigers have played just one road game this season, and they fell 99-70 to Iowa State. The only other game that Auburn played outside of their home stadium was in Atlanta, which also resulted in a loss, 81-62 to Illinois.
Last season, Auburn went 1-9 on the road, including an 88-55 loss at Ole Miss. In the two meetings between Ole Miss and Auburn last season, Henderson averaged 21.5 point, LaDarius White 15 and Jarvis Summers 11.5 points. Ole Miss won both games.
Auburn’s best win this season came over 10-3 Clemson of the ACC. Auburn knocked them off 66-64. The Tigers have dropped just one home game, a 111-92 loss to Northwestern State; Auburn allowed 72 points in the second half. Northwestern State is second in the NCAA in scoring at 89.4 points per game and play at the fastest pace in the country.
Three-Point Shooting
Among SEC teams, Auburn allows the second most threes per game at 21.27 and the highest three-point percentage at 38.5 percent. Ole Miss will be without Henderson’s 11.5 three point attempts per game – second in the NCAA – and his 38.4 percentage.
On the heels of Henderson’s attempts, Ole Miss leads the SEC in three-point percentage at 37.8, as well as the most made and attempted three pointers per game (8.2/21.8).
Summers, who has been playing at an All-SEC level, is shooting an astounding 54.5 percent on threes and shooting 3.4 per game.
White has struggled from beyond the arc, as he has shot 17.9 percent on threes this season.
Rebounding
Ole Miss is allowing an SEC-high 13.8 offensive rebounds per game. Auburn is grabbing 11.18 offensive rebounds, ninth best in the SEC. Ole Miss is also last in the SEC in total rebounding percentage, as the Rebels are grabbing just 48.1 percent of available rebounds. The only team in the SEC that is getting less than 50 percent of available rebounds is Mississippi State.
The Tigers are led in rebounding by Allen Payne who grabs 6.5 per game. Also on their front line is seven footer Asauhn Dixon-Tatum; he grabs six boards per game. Dixon-Tatum is getting 17.4 percent of available offensive rebounds, second best in the SEC. From their back court, Chris Denson is averaging 5.5 rebounds per game.
Ole Miss has started Sebastian Saiz in the last two games, and the Spaniard has delivered with 18 total rebounds. He has 29 rebounds in the last three games. Saiz is now eighth in the conference in total rebounding percentage at 16.9 percent. He is the only Rebel in the top 20. In the last three games, Saiz is 8 of 15 shooting and averaging seven points.
Auburn’s Scorers
Auburn has the first and third leading scorer in the SEC. K.T. Harrell is scoring 19.4 points per game, and Chris Denson is at 19.0. Both guards play off of the ball.
Harrell is shooting 42.3 percent on threes this year, while attempting 5.6 per game. Harrell has been phenomenal in spot up opportunities, scoring 1.20 points per possession. He’s also been good in transition at 1.15 points per possession.
However, Denson has struggled shooting this season. He’s knocked down just 17.9 percent of his threes. But Denson has been attacking the basket as well as anyone in the SEC. He leads the SEC at 9.2 free throw attempts per game, but he only knocks down 65.3 percent of them. Denson is fourth in the SEC in isolation efficiency scoring 1.11 points per possession. (Jarvis Summers leads the conference at 1.44.)
Ole Miss shouldn’t have to worry about a stretch four lighting up the scoreboard. None of Auburn’s big men pose a threat as an outside shooter. The scoring will be guard heavy, as the third leading scorer is point guard Tahj Shamsid-Deen at 8.4 points per game. Forward Allen Payne averages 7.2 points, fourth on the team.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss men’s basketball, follow @Tyler_RSR and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
— Tyler Bischoff
tfbischo@go.olemiss.edu
