Basketball Ole Miss won two home victories last week against Kentucky and Vanderbilt, placing the Rebels in the sixth division for the SEC tournament. The rebels will face off against No. 11 South Carolina Gamecocks at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday.
“We took off on Sunday and we had a lot of energy yesterday,” said coach Kermit Davis at a news conference on Tuesday. “It takes some consistency to win 7 out of 9. That means something. This shows the league that anyone can beat anyone in this league. “
Going to Nashville, the Rebels hold a conference record of 10-8 and an overall record of 15-10. For the eighth time in the past ten years, the rebels have risen above pre-season media polls, as the SEC’s Pre-season media poll said Ole Miss would finish ninth in the league. The Rebels proved that the polls were wrong, as the team won seven of the nine final games on the schedule.
Senior guard Devontae Shuler also received an honor from the SEC this week, honored by First-Team All-SEC. This makes the guard the 16th rebel guard to receive the award in 15 years and also the third honored since Kermit Davis became the head coach. This also marks the first time that Shuler received the honor.
“It feels great,” Shuler told a news conference on Tuesday. “I thank God for the people at Ole Miss who encouraged me. I continue to thank these guys. Mostly, I want to thank God for that. “
During the regular season, Shuler led the team in scoring with 15.6 points per game and assists averaging 3.3 points per game. The senior is also ninth in steals, with 1.5 steals per game, ranking in the top 10 in those categories alongside Scotty Pippen Jr. of Vanderbilt. Shuler also recorded eight 20-point games this season and helped the team qualify for the NCAA spot after winning seven of their last nine games.
Shuler occupies the third place in steals in the career with 180, the eighth in three points in the career with 176, the tenth in assists with 321 and the 21st in career points with 1,297 in Ole Miss’ record books.
“It’s the first time he’s been on a SEC postseason team of any kind,” said Davis. “So deserving. Great teammate. He was excited and I was excited for him. It was well deserved. “
The game against South Carolina will be the definitive test for the rebels, since the last time the two teams faced each other was on February 13, when the rebels won 81-74. Shuler scored 31 points and seven rebounds. Ole Miss also leads the all-time record against South Carolina by 22-20, but drops 5-4 against Gamecocks in SEC tournament meetings. Gamecocks narrowly won 85-84 during the 2018 tournament.
The game between South Carolina and Ole Miss will be the last of the four games that day, as it is scheduled to start 25 minutes after the game against No. 7 Missouri and No. 10 Georgia. No. 3 LSU will be the opponent for the winner of the game of the Rebels.
The complaint against the Gamecocks is scheduled for 8 pm Thursday in Nashville.