The Ole Miss Rebel basketball team is set to close out the last week of the 2014-15 regular season with a trip to Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Tuesday night, as they take on the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Ole Miss (19-10, 10-6 SEC) looks to bounce back from dropping both games last week against Georgia and LSU. In the 73-63 loss to the Bayou Bengals on Saturday, Ole Miss shot 38 precent from the field and 29 precent from the beyond the three-point arc. Junior Stefan Moody lead the team in scoring against the Tigers with 15 points.
The Rebels rank fourth in the nation in free throw percentage, hitting 77.6 percent and having hit 326 of their last 416 (.784) attempts from the line. Moody leads the SEC and ranks fifth in the nation at 91.2 percent from the charity stripe.
Coach Andy Kennedy’s squad has a strength of schedule that ranks 22nd in the nation according to ESPN.com. Ole Miss has faced 12 teams from ESPN’s top 50 basketball power index.
Alabama (17-12, 7-9 SEC) welcomes the Rebels in after splitting last week’s contests against South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Senior guard Levi Randolph leads the team averaging 14.8 ppg and is shooting 47 percent from the field in conference-play. Sophomore forward Michael Kessens is pulling down a team-best 5.9 boards per game and ranks 18th in the SEC in league play with 5.7 rpg. The Crimson Tide rank third in the league in scoring defense, allowing just 62.2 ppg against SEC opponents this season.
Tuesday’s contest will be the 174th meeting between the teams with the Tide holding a 118-55 advantage in the all-time series. The Rebels have run into some troubles in Tuscaloosa with only 10 wins against Alabama on their home floor. Last season, Ole Miss defeated Alabama 79-67.
Ole Miss will return to the confines of Tad Smith Coliseum on Saturday as they host Vanderbilt to close out the regular season. Tipoff against the Crimson Tide is set for 6 p.m. on the SEC Network.
Adam Brown is the HottyToddy.com sports editor and he can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.
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