The SEC contains nine ranked teams, including six in the top 15 of this week’s AP Top 25 poll.
Among those teams is No. 19 Ole Miss, which attempts to maintain its strong start Saturday afternoon when it travels to Biloxi, Miss., for an encounter with Southern Miss.
At 8-1, the Rebels are off to a second straight strong start under coach Chris Beard. Last season they won their first 13 before faltering in conference play, and this time only a two-point loss to Purdue separates Ole Miss from being unbeaten.
The Rebels (83.3 points per game) are among 14 teams in the 16-team SEC averaging at least 80 points. Ole Miss has scored at least 80 six times so far, displaying its prolific offense in a 96-85 overtime win over BYU on Nov. 28 and its 86-63 rout of Louisville on Dec. 3.
The win over Louisville is among four wins by at least 20, and the Rebels are aided by the fourth-best 3-point offense in the league at 36.6 percent. Ole Miss made 15 of 36 3s in the Purdue loss and combined to hit 16 of 43 in blowout wins over Louisville and Lindenwood.
“We have a diverse offense,” Beard said after the Lindenwood game. “We have good players. I think from a coaching standpoint, we just try to find out in the flow of the game what’s going to give our team the best chance to be successful.”
The Rebels are off to their hot start without having a top-20 scorer in the SEC. The roster features four players averaging at least 12.6 points.
Sean Pedulla is averaging 14.0 to lead the team and scored 19 Saturday. Beard is also hoping to see more from Jaylen Murray, who averages 13.1 and has shot 10 of 26 in three games since exploding for 28 against BYU.
Southern Miss (4-5) is struggling with a defense that allows 78.7 points, the worst figure in the Sun Belt Conference, and it was exposed in Tuesday’s 86-58 loss at Tulane.
The Golden Eagles allowed 49.2 percent shooting and are 1-5 when allowing opponents to shoot at least 49 percent.
Denijay Harris leads Southern Miss at 15.0 points per game. He was held to 12 at Tulane after collecting 44 points and 28 rebounds in his previous two games.
Harris, Neftali Alvarez and Christian Watson have started each game so far but Alvarez was limited to four minutes Tuesday due to an injury that may keep him out Saturday.
Watson is averaging 10.3 points but is shooting 7-for-25 in his past three games.
The Golden Eagles are facing a ranked team for the first time since getting a 10-point win on Jan. 6 over James Madison, which was ranked No. 19 at the time. Southern Miss is attempting to earn a win over a ranked team on a neutral court for the first time since beating Marquette on Jan. 14, 2004.
The Rebels lead the all-time series 13-7.
–Field Level Media
