OXFORD — Ole Miss will take on Oklahoma for the first time as Southeastern Conference foes at 1 p.m. in the SJB Pavilion and on ESPN2.
The Rebels are 19-9 overall and 8-7 in the SEC. Oklahoma, fighting for an NCAA Tournament berth, is 17-11 overall and 4-11 in the SEC.
This will be the sixth-ever time the two programs have played. They first met in December of 1998 in Puerto Rico, when Ole Miss picked up a 75-72 victory, before Oklahoma responded with a win in Norman the following year. The Rebels hosted the Sooners in 2000 and won, 60-55, with Oklahoma winning the latest two matchups in 2019 and 2022 on neutral courts.
The Sooners’ March 2019 win over Ole Miss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Columbia, S.C., marked the Rebels’ last appearance in March Madness.
Oklahoma grabbed national attention by going a perfect 13-0 in non-conference play to start the season, picking up key wins over Providence, No. 24 Arizona, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State and No. 24 Michigan. Their four wins during SEC action have come over South Carolina, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and No. 21 Mississippi State. Oklahoma currently sits in 14th in the SEC standings and owns a NET Ranking of 50.
The team is led by senior forward Jalon Moore, in his second season at Oklahoma after spending his first two seasons at Georgia Tech. He leads the Sooners with an average of 17.1 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per contest, while shooting nearly 50 percent from the field at 49.2 percent.
Moore is joined by freshman guard and NBA prospect Jeremiah Fears, who ranks second on the team with 16 points per game and paces the team with an average of four assists per outing and a team-high 45 steals.
The Sooners have gotten a heavy output of their scoring from the free throw line this season, as they lead the SEC and rank 11th in the nation with a free throw percentage of 78.7, making an average of 17.1 per outing to rank 18th in the country.
On the defensive end, they've thrived at suppressing their opponents from deep, as their defensive field goal percentage from behind the 3-point line of 29.9 percent is the 21st-best mark in college basketball.
Ole Miss, meanwhile, is trying to snap a three-game losing streak, ensure at least a .500 SEC mark and improve their NCAA Tournament standing. As of Friday, ESPN's Joe Lunardi has Ole Miss as a 7-seed in the West Region. They are projected to face 10-seed VCU in Milwaukee, with the winner paired with 2-seed Iowa State and 15-seed Norfolk State.
Lunardi's latest projections have 13 teams from the SEC earning a ticket to the 2025 NCAA Tournament, a number that would be the most for a single conference all time.
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Notable SEC Metrics
— Four of the top six teams in the NCAA’s NET rankings are from the SEC: Auburn 1st, Tennessee 4th, Florida 5th, and Alabama 6th.
— The SEC leads the nation with seven teams ranked in the Top 25 and 14 in the Top 50 of the NET.
— SEC teams have amassed 94 Quad 1 wins and 160 wins against Quad 1 & 2 teams combined.
— The SEC averages 5.88 Quad 1 wins per team and 10.00 Quad 1+2 wins per team, both lead the nation.
— Nine SEC teams have at least five Quad 1 wins, four have at least seven and three have at least nine.
— The SEC’s +22.00 KenPom rating is the highest rating in history, breaking the ACC’s +21.37 record of in 1997.
— Five of the top six teams in KenPom’s Adjusted Offensive Efficiency are from the SEC: Auburn 1st, Alabama 3rd, Florida 4th, Missouri 5th, and Kentucky 6th.
— Four SEC teams are ranked in the Top 10 of KenPom’s team rankings, eight are in the Top 25, 12 are in the Top 50 and all 16 teams rank in the Top 80.
Saturday in the SEC:
#1 Auburn at No. 17 Kentucky, Noon, ABC
Arkansas at South Carolina, Noon, SEC Network
Oklahoma at Ole Miss, 1 p.m., ESPN2
LSU at #24 Mississippi State, 2:30 p.m., SEC Network
#6 Alabama at #5 Tennessee, 3 p.m., ESPN
#14 Missouri at Vanderbilt, 5 p.m., SEC Network
Georgia at Texas, 7 p.m., ESPN2
#12 Texas A&M at #3 Florida, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network
Rebels drop home finale to No. 6 South Carolina
Ole Miss women's basketball put forth a strong effort against No. 6 South Carolina, but fell short, 75-59, Thursday night in its final home game of the season at the SJB Pavilion.
The Rebels (18-9, 9-6 SEC) blocked nine Gamecock (26-3, 14-1 SEC) shots, the most South Carolina has given up all season. Additionally, Ole Miss held South Carolina to 24 points from its bench, the second-lowest scored by the Gamecocks this season. Entering Thursday's matchup, South Carolina averaged 42.6 points off the bench per game, which ranked No. 1 in the country.
Sira Thienou and Christeen Iwuala had similar stat lines to lead Ole Miss against South Carolina. Thienou had a solid effort off the bench for Ole Miss, scoring a team-high 15 points and eight rebounds. Iwuala made her second start in a Rebel jersey against the Gamecocks, scoring 10 points while defending the paint with a team-leading nine rebounds. Her rebounding mark also tied a career-best.
A trio of Rebels eclipsed the 300-point mark for the season, all in the opening three minutes of the second quarter. Kennedy Todd-Williams did it first by converting an and-one, Starr Jacobs joined her shortly after with a jump shot in the paint off a dish from Kharyssa Richardson. Thienou's impressive half continued as she scored two quick layups to give the Rebels the lead and to meet the feat. For Thienou, she became the 13th Rebel freshman to reach 300 points in a season.
Tameiya Sadler got the scoring started for Ole Miss after taking the ball coast-to-coast for a layup. Thienou then began her scoring streak, tallying seven points in the quarter, including a three to lead the team for the quarter. The freshman went 3-for-3 from the field to get her points, as South Carolina took a 19-14 lead to end the first quarter.
The first half of the second quarter came fast and furious, as the Rebels overcame a five-point deficit to keep the Gamecocks in check. Todd-Williams, Jacobs and Thienou each reached their 300-point milestone to put Ole Miss above South Carolina for the first time in the game. The two teams went back-and-forth on the scoreboard for the half's remainder, with six lead changes in the quarter alone.
Thienou had established herself as the dominant scorer for the Rebels, pacing the team with 13 points at the end of the first half, as South Carolina held a 37-33 lead. Defensively, it took Ole Miss only one half of play to block seven South Carolina shots, which is the most allowed by the Gamecocks against an SEC opponent this season. South Carolina was also held to only seven points from its reserves in the first half.
Iwuala came alive in the third quarter to help Ole Miss keep the game close. She scored six points, while adding a pair of blocks. Her two blocks put her at four on the day, which tied herself for the most by any Rebel in a single game this season. She capped her high-quality quarter by securing an offensive rebound and converting a layup through heavy contact as the time expired in the quarter. South Carolina held a 55-47 lead entering the final 10 minutes.
The Gamecocks had enough momentum to take full control of the final quarter, defeating the Rebels, 75-59.
Ole Miss is back on the road for the regular season finale in Baton Rouge against No. 7 LSU. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. CT and will air on SEC Network.
Rebels look to stay hot versus Wright State
No. 24 Ole Miss looks to keep things rolling at home as it plays host to Wright State for a three-game set this weekend at Swayze Field. First pitch on Friday and Saturday is set for 4 p.m. and Sunday is set for 1:30 p.m.
The Rebels' current ERA of 3.67 is the lowest through the first eight games of the season since 2022 (1.92).
Ole Miss is tied for 10th in the NCAA in home runs (15), 12th in home runs per game (1.88), and 21st in walks (57).
The Rebels are tied for 18th in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 11.7 punchouts per game.
Luke Hill is tied for 18th in the country in runs scored (14), and 15th in runs scored per game (1.75). Hill leads the Rebels in slugging percentage, runs scored, hits, RBI, home runs, and total bases.
Freshman Hayden Federico leads the team in batting average, on base percentage, and stolen bases.
Federico and Hill are the only Rebels to have three hits in a game this season, each having done it twice.
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game 1: LHP Hunter Elliott (2-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Griffen Paige (0-1, 9.00 ERA)
Game 2: RHP Riley Maddox (1-1, 6.48 ERA) vs. RHP Jarrett Heilman (0-1, 11.57 ERA)
Game 3: RHP Mason Nichols (1-0, 5.14 ERA) vs. LHP Chet Lax (0-1, 9.00 ERA)
Rebels have strong first day at SEC Indoor
Ole Miss track & field received several scoring performances from its distance squads to open competition for the Rebels at the 2025 SEC Indoor Championships on Thursday evening in College Station, Texas.
The biggest haul came from the men's 5K, where the Rebels notched seven total meet points after scoring performances from seniors Kidus Misgina and Toby Gillen. Misgina – a midyear addition to the Ole Miss roster after transferring from Florida State – clocked an overall PR of 13:42.99 to finish fourth overall. Tonight was Misgina's first 5K as a Rebel, and it already moves him to No. 3 in program history indoors.
Gillen, meanwhile, tacked on two points for the Rebels in seventh place at 13:52.36. Junior Aiden Britt ran a career-best of his own in 10th place at 13:58.06, as did senior Elyas Ayyoub in 18th place at 14:07.49 – with those times ranking ninth and 15th in Ole Miss history indoors, respectively.
In the men's distance medley relay to close out the night, the Rebel quartet of Gabe Scales (1200-meter; 2:53.97), Marcus Dropik (400-meter; 47.59), Max Armstrong (800-meter; 1:52.20) and Evan Thornton-Sherman (mile; 4:02.07) passed the stick in 9:35.82 to take fourth place – adding five more meet points to Ole Miss' total.
Closing out the scoring for the Rebel men was sophomore John Kendricks in the pole vault, who tied for fifth place at 5.20m/17-00.75 for 2.5 meet points – pushing Ole Miss to a Day One total of 14.5.
\In the women's 5K, senior midyear transfer Greta Karinauskaite put the Rebel women on the board with a sixth-place finish at an indoor career-best of 15:55.51 – just narrowly missing out on breaking Skylar Boogerd's 2024 record of 15:55.16. Karinauskaite joins Boogerd as the lone Rebel women to ever break the 16-minute barrier indoors, and overall across both indoor and outdoor she is now the fifth to do so.
Ole Miss also received career-best efforts out of junior Hannah Ielfield in 17th place at 16:38.35 (No. 13 Ole Miss history indoors) and senior Ainhoa Brea in 18th place (16:53.13).
The Rebels return to action on Friday morning with the men's weight throw at 11 a.m.
Softball preps for Ole Miss Classic
The Ole Miss softball program returns to action this weekend, hosting three teams for the Ole Miss Classic from Friday through Sunday at the Ole Miss Softball Stadium.
The Rebels (13-3, 0-0 SEC) will welcome Nicholls (6-9, 0-0 SLC), South Alabama (9-6, 0-0 Sun Belt) and Murray State (4-6, 0-0 MVC) as the facility hosts 10 games, including five for the hosts.
The Rebels open against the Colonels at 3:30 p.m., before hosting the Jaguars at 6 p.m. CT.
Mackenzie Pickens enters the week as the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, following a .600 batting average, home run and 6 RBI performance in Huntsville, Ala.
Two-way star Aliyah Binford was named as a preseason Second Team All-American by Softball America as part of several honors since transferring in from Baylor.
The Rebel freshmen have started strong, with Miali Guachino leading the nation in strikeouts (89), and Persy Llamas leads the team in RBI (17).
Guachino made history at Southern Miss, striking out a program-record 19 batters. It shattered the previous single game record of 15. She followed it up with 14 in a two-hitter over North Alabama.
Ole Miss came just one swing short of a program record for consecutive shutouts after tallying four straight shutouts, before a solo home run in the Rebels, 7-1 win over Miami spoiled a fifth straight.
Women’s tennis opens home league play
No. 71 Ole Miss women's tennis is set to host its first home conference match of the season against No. 7 Tennessee on Friday at 3 p.m., followed by No. 56 Kentucky on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Palmer/Salloum Outdoor Tennis Facility.
The Rebels (7-3, 0-1 SEC) are seeking a home advantage over Tennessee and Kentucky for their first ranked win of the season. The Rebels return to Oxford after a tight matchup over No. 8 LSU in Baton Rouge. Senior Rachel Krzyzak earned her 50th career singles win over the weekend, becoming the first active Rebel to earn that number exclusively at Ole Miss.
