How to Watch: Ole Miss Basketball vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Saturday

BILOXI, Miss. – For the third season in a row, the Ole Miss men's basketball team will take on Southern Miss in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum down in Biloxi, facing off on Saturday, December 13 at 2 p.m. and streaming on SEC Network+.

TEAM FACTS
Ole Miss Rebels (Record: 5-4, 0-0 SEC)
Head Coach: Chris Beard • 3rd Season at Ole Miss (49-28) • 286-126 career record (14th Season)

Southern Miss Golden Eagles (Record: 6-4, 0-0 SBC)
Head Coach: Jay Ladner • 7th Season at Southern Miss (82-115) • 158-203 career record (12th Season)

ON THE AIR
Television/Online: SEC Network+
Play-by-Play: Jake Hromada
Analyst: Kermit Davis

OLE MISS RADIO
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: Gary Darby
Analyst: Murphy Holloway

SERIES HISTORY VS. SOUTHERN MISS
The two Magnolia State foes have battled on the basketball court 26 previous times, with Ole Miss owning the all-time series lead 20-6. First meeting over 100 years ago in 1922, the Rebels claimed the first six games of the series until a 1966 victory for the Golden Eagles. This will be the 10th time the two programs have faced off at a neutral location, with Ole Miss leading 7-2 in those contests. The Rebels have claimed seven of the last 10 matchups, winning each of their prior games against Southern Miss under head coach Chris Beard.

LAST MEETING: December 14, 2024 (W, 77-46, Biloxi, Miss.)
• Ole Miss leapt out to an early lead, connecting on nine makes from three in the first 20 minutes to take a 10-point advantage into halftime. They would keep Southern Miss to just 18 points in the second half to eventually win by 31, marking the last time Ole Miss has held their opponent to under 50 points in a game.
• Sean Pedulla (Ole Miss): 18 points, six three-point field goals made, two rebounds, four assists, two blocks, one steal.
• Denijay Harris (Southern Miss): 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists, three blocks.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Southern Miss enters this matchup with a record of 6-4 on the season, having defeated Tougaloo, William Carey, North Florida, UT Martin, Radford, and Grambling State. Their losses have come at the hands of Buffalo, South Carolina, Grambling State, and Miami. They currently rank No. 145 in the latest NET Rankings.

The team has been led offensively by a pair of talented transfers from the community college ranks in forward Tylik Weeks and Isaac Taveras, as Weeks paces the team with an average of 17.7 points per game while Taveras averages 16.7. A six-foot six-inch guard, Taveras also leads the team in rebounding with a clip of 7.1 per game, as well as steals with a total of 24.

Both Weeks and Taveras have been efficient from the floor this season, each owning field goal percentages over 50%. Transfer point guard Dylan Brumfield helps orchestrate the offense for the Golden Eagles, with a team-high 33 assists and one of the better assist-to-turnover ratings in the nation at 3.30 (No. 49 in NCAA).

The Golden Eagles have had success in the rebounding game to begin this season, owning a rebound margin of +6.4, the 72nd-best mark in the country. They also rank among the top 100 in steals per game (8.4, No. 82), blocks per game (4.2, No. 93), field goal percentage defense (41.2, No. 92), and field goal percentage (47.5%, No. 95).

Currently in his seventh season at the helm of his alma mater, Jay Ladner has compiled 82 victories during his time at Southern Miss. His best season came in 2022-23, when he led the Golden Eagles to 25 wins including 14 in their first year in the Sun Belt Conference and a conference title.

Prior to his time at Southern Miss he spent five years as the head coach at Southeastern Louisiana, after two years as the head coach at Jones County Junior College, where he won the 2014 NJCAA National Championship.

During his collegeiate playing career, Ladner was a member of the 1986-87 Southern Miss basketball team that went on to claim the NIT Championship.

Former Ole Miss coach Win Case is on Ladner's staff at Southern Miss as the associate head coach and in is in his first year with the program. He spent two seasons on under current Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard in Oxford, remaining with the program after spending five seasons as an assistant coach under previous coach Kermit Davis.

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