Texas A&M @ Mississippi preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 16, 2018 ) Mississippi 69, Texas A&M 71

Ole Miss has let a promising start to the season fade a bit with four consecutive losses and the Rebels look to begin moving forward again when they host struggling Texas A&M on Wednesday night in an SEC contest. Ole Miss won 13 of the first 15 games this season and started the league slate with three straight victories before managing one win in its last six outings, including an 81-75 setback against Mississippi State on Saturday.

The Rebels have allowed an average of 83 points during their losing streak and lost three of the past four at home, but coach Kermit Davis told reporters his team is not in a spiral and won’t look past Texas A&M. “Their talent level is going to be right at ours,” Davis told the media. “It doesn’t matter what the records are, and we have to control what we can control. That’s it in a nutshell. There’s no panic here. … We’ve got to move forward, and that’s what we’re going to do.” The Aggies, who won the last three meetings, have lost five of six and eight of 10 overall after draining a season-high 12 shots from 3-point range while allowing 64.5 percent shooting from top-ranked Tennessee in a 93-76 loss Saturday. “Ultimately for us, we played the number one team in the country that played like the number one team in the country,” Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy told reporters. “. … I thought our guys competed and fought hard. … Defensively is where we were hit hard and we couldn’t guard.”

TV: 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network

ABOUT TEXAS A&M (8-12, 1-7 SEC): Junior guard Wendell Mitchell has raised his production level lately, scoring at least 18 points in three of the last four games to improve his season average to 11.6 with a team-high 28 steals. TJ Starks tops the Aggies in scoring (13.2) and assists (3.9) after dishing out a season high-matching eight against Tennessee, while fellow sophomore guard Savion Flagg adds 12.4 points per game and a team-best 7.9 boards. Junior forward Josh Nebo is shooting 75 percent from the field and scored 10 points in his first start Saturday.

ABOUT OLE MISS (14-7, 4-4): Junior guard Breein Tyree leads the Rebels in scoring (17.8) after averaging 22.3 over the last three games and has connected on 10-of-21 shots from behind the 3-point arc during that stretch. Senior guard Terence Davis has also been productive the last three contests, averaging 19 points along with 8.7 boards, and tops the team in both rebounds (6.3) and assists (3.5) overall. Sophomore guard Devontae Shuler is third on the team behind Tyree and Davis (16.3) in scoring at 9.7 and has drained 12-of-23 from the field the past three games.

TIP-INS

1. Texas A&M sophomore G Brandon Mahan scored 12 - all on 3-pointers - Saturday after combining for 27 in the previous nine contests.

2. Ole Miss senior F Bruce Stevens poured in 13 points against Mississippi State, marking only his second double-figure effort in SEC play.

3. Despite going 12-of-27 on Saturday, the Aggies were tied for 336th in the country at 29.5 percent from 3-point range entering the week.

PREDICTION: Ole Miss 78, Texas A&M 68