Mississippi @ Tennessee preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 27, 2019 ) Tennessee 73, Mississippi 71

Jordan Bowden has struggled with his shooting during the early days of SEC play, but the Tennessee senior guard snapped out of his slump last week with two strong performances entering Tuesday’s home contest with Ole Miss. Bowden hit just 7-of-41 attempts in the Volunteers' first three conference games, but connected on 12-of-23 shots across two games last week, going 7-for-11 Saturday to spark Tennessee’s 66-45 victory at Vanderbilt.

Bowden scored 21 points Saturday and helped the Volunteers shoot 53.1 percent from the field, while Tennessee limited Vanderbilt to 23.5 percent shooting and 0-for-25 from 3-point range. “We were able to get out and run, which we’ve been trying to get our guys to do,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes told reporters after the Volunteers bounced back from a Wednesday loss at Georgia by making 10 of its first 11 shots after halftime. The Rebels are one of two SEC teams still seeking a victory in conference play after Saturday’s 80-76 home loss to league leader LSU, despite senior guard Breein Tyree scoring a career-high 36 points after missing one game due to a back injury. “I think he tried to guard, too, competed at a high level on both ends,” Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis told the media in describing Tyree’s return.

TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: SEC Network

ABOUT OLE MISS (9-8, 0-4 SEC): Tyree finished 12-for-20 from the field in his third-consecutive 25-plus point effort, hitting three 3-pointers and making all nine of his free-throw attempts, and enters the week leading the SEC in scoring in conference games at 29.7 points. The rest of the Rebels were 0-for-10 from the free-throw line, surprising in that Ole Miss is shooting 70.9 percent from the line this season after Saturday. Sophomore guard Blake Hinson scored 13 points and hit 3-of-8 from 3-point range Saturday, and is averaging 11.5 points.

ABOUT TENNESSEE (11-6, 3-2 SEC): Bowden leads a closely clustered group of Volunteers in scoring at 12.4 points despite shooting just 35.6 percent from the field, as five Tennessee players average at least 11 points per game. Freshman guard Santiago Vescovi has provided another scoring option in five games since becoming eligible, averaging 11 points per game and shooting 12-of-25 from 3-point range. Junior forwards John Fulkerson and Yves Pons each scored 12 points Saturday, with Fulkerson grabbing eight rebounds and Pons blocking four shots.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Ole Miss freshman G Austin Crowley matched a career high with six assists against LSU.

2. Pons has blocked two or more shots in five consecutive games and has blocked 17 shots in that span.

3. The Rebels are in the midst of playing five of their first eight conference games away from home.

PREDICTION: Tennessee 74, Ole Miss 64