Middle Tennessee St. @ Mississippi preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 21, 2018 ) Mississippi 74, Middle Tennessee St. 56

One week after defeating CSU Bakersfield and former head coach Rod Barnes 83-67, Mississippi gears up for another game with a connection as Kermit Davis' former team Middle Tennessee comes to town Saturday afternoon. Davis is in his second season in Starkville but he spent 16 seasons at Middle Tennessee, becoming the school's winningest head coach with 332 victories.

"It's a little different than it was last year," Davis told reporters, referencing the Rebels' 74-56 win over the Blue Raiders last December in his first game against his former school. "Last year really felt different, especially with us going to Bridgestone (Arena). We'd won some big games at Bridgestone and saw a lot of those people. It's a little different." Ole Miss comes in off a balanced effort against CSU Bakersfield, with all five starters - Blake Hinson (game-high 23), Breein Tyree (20), Devontae Shuler (15), Khadim Sy (10) and KJ Buffen (10) - scoring in double figures for the first time since December 2015. The fivesome accounted for 78 of the team's 83 points and the team nailed a season-best 57.8 percent of their shots from the field, hitting 66.7 percent in the second half. Middle Tennessee has struggled under second-year coach Nick McDevitt and the Blue Raiders have lost six of their last seven games after a poor performance in an 85-52 loss to Murray State last week.

TV: 3 p.m. ET, SEC Network.

ABOUT MIDDLE TENNESSEE (4-6): Junior guard C.J. Jones leads four Blue Raiders in double figures, averaging 16.2 points per game, followed closely by senior guard Antonio Green with 15.7. Jones is averaging a team-best 42.3 percent on his long-distance shots, but Green, with a team-high 29 3-pointers this season, ranks second in the nation among active Division I players in career 3-pointers made (304) through Friday. The Blue Raiders scored a season-low 52 points in their loss to Murray State as the team only produced seven assists, five less than their next lowest total this season, and turned the ball over 15 times.

ABOUT OLE MISS (6-3): Tyree (16.4 ppg), Hinson (13.4), Buffen (11) and Shuler (9.8) account for 64.1 percent of the Rebels' scoring this season, but Davis is hoping to get more production from his bench. Ole Miss lost the rebounding battle against CSU Bakersfield as the Rebels pulled down a season-low 23, with Sy accounting for seven of the boards in addition to his second straight double-digit scoring outing. The Rebels are third in the SEC in steals per game (8.6), with Buffen pacing the team with 2.0 per game, third-best in the SEC.

TIP-INS

1. Ole Miss and Middle Tennessee are battling for the fourth straight year and the seventh time in the last nine seasons and overall the Blue Raiders own a slim 6-5 series lead.

2. The Rebels are second in the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage defense (26.9).

3. Ole Miss is 16-6 at home under Davis, including a 5-1 mark this season.

PREDICTION: Ole Miss 78, Middle Tennessee 65