Mississippi @ Utah preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 21, 2008 ) Mississippi 72, Utah 83

Utah and Ole Miss, two teams not expected to do much in conference play but off to 3-0 starts, face off Monday night in the first round of the four-team MGM Resorts Main Event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The other two teams, Rice and UNLV, will play prior to the contest between the Utes and Rebels with both the winners and losers playing each other on Wednesday night.

This will mark the first time this season that both Utah and Ole Miss play a game away from their home floor. Utah, which returns just two starters from a 20-12 squad that finished fourth in the Pac-12 and lost to Boise State in the first round of the NIT, was picked to finish seventh in the conference preseason poll while Ole Miss, which returns three starters from a 22-14 team that lost to Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals of the NIT, finished 10th in the SEC preseason media poll. Utah, which opened the season with wins over Prairie View A&M (83-62) and Mississippi Valley State (91-51), ironically comes in off a 77-59 victory over another SEC school, Missouri, on Thursday night but the Tigers were missing star freshman 6-foot-10 forward Michael Porter Jr., considered a candidate to be the first pick of the 2018 NBA Draft. Ole Miss has defeated Louisiana (94-76), Eastern Kentucky (85-75) and grinded out a 77-72 win over Georgia State on Friday night.

TV: 12:30 a.m. ET, AT&T Sports Net

ABOUT UTAH (3-0): The Utes have nine players averaging nine points or more led by 6-10 senior forward David Collette (14.0), a returning starter who averaged 13.6 points and 5.1 rebounds last season. Junior guard Sedrick Barefield is second in scoring (13.5) and leads the team in assists (6.0) but was just 2-of-11 from the floor and scored five points against Missouri. Forward Tyler Rawson (12.7), swingman Gabe Bealer (11.0) and 7-foot center Jayce Johnson (10.0) also are averaging in double figures with Justin Bibbens, a graduate point guard transfer from Long Beach State, not too far behind, averaging 9.0 points and 4.7 assists.

ABOUT OLE MISS (3-0): The Rebels have two of the top guards in the SEC in senior Terence Davis and junior Deandre Burnett, both of whom garnered second team preseason all-SEC honors. Davis, who scored 83 points over one three-game SEC stretch last season, leads the team in scoring (20.3) and is second in rebounding (6.3) while shooting 41.7 percent from 3-point range. Burnett is second in scoring (13.7) and leads the team in assists (3.0) while senior guard Markel Crawford (11.3) and freshman guard Devontae Shuler (11.0) also are averaging in double digits.

TIP-INS

1. Andy Kennedy, in his 12th season as head coach at Ole Miss, is the winningest coach in school history with 237 victories.

2. Utah, which led the Pac-12 in rebounding margin (plus-6.8) last season, is plus-10.7 in that category so far this season.

3. Utah had just six turnovers in its win over Missouri.

PREDICTION: Utah 70, Ole Miss 66