Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Takes on Oklahoma State in Stillwater for 2023 SEC/Big 12 Challenge

The Ole Miss men’s basketball program will make its first-ever trip to Stillwater, Oklahoma in the new year to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the 10^th annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

This matchup was announced on Thursday and set for Jan. 28, 2023.

Ole Miss and Oklahoma State have tipped the ball up three times before – ever meeting was at a neutral site – the most recent game was in the NIT Championship at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Nov. 29, 2019.

The Rebels have appeared in SEC/Big 12 Challenge eight times since it started back in 2012-13. Last season, coach Kermit Davis and his staff defeated Kansas State 67-56 inside the SJB Pavilion. Against the Wildcats, freshman Daeshun Ruffin led the way with a superb second-half effort, scoring 13 of his 17 total points in the back half in addition to a career-high seven rebounds to help the Rebels win the rebounding battle, 43-33. The Ole Miss defense piled on, holding K-State to just 30.2 percent shooting overall and 30.6 percent from three.

All 10 of the Big 12’s teams and 10 of the SEC’s 14 member institutions will participate in this year’s event. Each of the 10 SEC teams that participated in the 2022 Challenge will be part of the 2023 event. The SEC won the ninth annual Big 12/SEC Challenge by winning six of the 10 games on Jan. 29, 2022. It was the second year in a row that the SEC won the Challenge. The SEC has lost the Challenge just one time in the last six years.

This will be the eighth year that a bye in the league schedule for participating teams was created to accommodate the single-day format. The first two years of the Challenge were played over several days in November and December, but the last eight events have been consolidated to one single day in January.

ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise the contests. Start times and network designations will be announced at a later date.

Staff Report