The Wildcats are looking to bounce back in a crucial top 25 road matchup on Tuesday night.
After Saturday night’s loss to Arkansas, it’s clear that every game in the SEC carries a lot of weight and significance. For the Kentucky Wildcats, that includes Tuesday night’s road game at No. 25 Ole Miss.
Kentucky still has a long shot to win the SEC regular-season title. But with four losses, the focus needs to become the bigger picture; getting, at the very least, a top eight seed in the SEC Tournament and a top four seed in the NCAA Tournament.
One thing about this Wildcats team is that they have been very good at bouncing back. They’ve only lost back-to-back games once this season. The Wildcats’ resiliency is, perhaps, their best quality.
Tuesday night, though, won’t be easy at Ole Miss. The Rebels will keep the pressure on the Wildcats for 40 minutes, with several capable shooters and multiple good scorers, distributors, and defenders.
Let’s look at the Players to Watch on the Ole Miss Rebels ahead of Tuesday night’s game.
Players to Watch
1. #3. Sean Pedulla 6’1’ 195 lbs. Sr. Guard Edmond, Okla. Virginia Tech Transfer
15.2 pts, 3.4 rebs, 50 stl, 45.4 FG%, 40.3 3-PT FG%, 78.3 FT%, 32.8 mpg
Pedulla played the first three seasons of his collegiate career at Virginia Tech. He led the Hokies with 16.4 points per game, ranking eighth in the ACC with 17.3 points per game in conference play. Pedulla was also third in the ACC with 148 assists.
He’s coming off a 29-point game against No. 1 Auburn on Saturday afternoon, one of three games this season where Pedulla has scored 25+ points. Pedulla is second on the team with 80 assists, and he has multiple assists in all but one game this season.
A terrific three-point shooter, Pedulla has two games with at least six three-pointers. In SEC play, he has five games with at least three three-pointers and two games with four three-pointers.
Pedulla is also a durable player, with five straight games playing 35+ minutes. He’s played 35+ minutes in 12 games overall this season.
2. #11. Matthew Murrell 6’4” 205 lbs. Sr. Guard Memphis, Tenn.
11.2 pts, 3.4 rebs, 41.6 FG%, 31.6 3-PT FG%, 73.1 FT%, 30 mpg
Murrell was the highest-rated recruit in Kermit Davis’s tenure as the Rebels head coach. In the NIL and Transfer Portal era, Murrell stayed at Ole Miss during the head coaching transition and is now thriving with Chris Beard leading the program.
Murrell is one of the top scorers and shooters in Ole Miss history. He has 10 games this season with multiple three-pointers, including six of his last eight games, and he also has 11 games scoring in double figures this season. Murrell has also played 30+ minutes in 11 games this season.
3. #5. Jaylen Murray 5’11” 165 lbs. Sr. Guard Bronx, N.Y. Saint Peter’s Transfer
10.9 pts, 2.2 rebs, 82 ast.-29 TO, 41.1 FG%, 40.7 3-PT FG%, 85% FT, 31.7 mpg
Murray is in his second season with Ole Miss, but before that he was a part of Saint Peter’s and their incredible run to the Elite Eight in 2022.
This is a terrific distributor of the ball and shooter in Murray. Murray leads the Rebels in assists and three-point shooting, among Ole Miss players with at least 25 three-point attempts. He has 10 games with five or more assists and 11 games with multiple steals. From beyond the arc, Murray has two games with at least five three-pointers and four games with at least four three-pointers. Murray also has four double-digit scoring games in SEC play and has played 30+ minutes 17 times.
4. #4. Jaemyn Brakefield 6’8” 225 lbs. Sr. Forward Jackson, Miss. Duke Transfer
10.8 pts, 5 rebs/gm., 47.1 FG%, 34.7 3-PT FG%, 72% FT, 23.1 mpg
A former No. 1 recruit from the state of Mississippi, Brakefield is in his fourth season with the Rebels and fifth season of his College Basketball career.
Brakefield has seven straight double-digit scoring games entering Tuesday night, including 20 points at Mississippi State back in mid-Janaury. Despite only starting one game this season, Brakefield has still played 30+ minutes four times this season. That includes three times in his last five games, and Brakefield has played 20+ minutes in every SEC game this season.
5. #14. Dre Davis 6’6” 215 lbs. Sr. Guard Indianapolis, Ind. Seton Hall Transfer
9.7 pts, 4.7 rebs, 24 blk, 45.2 FG%, 33.3 3-PT FG%, 67.6 FT%, 25.8 mpg
Davis was an integral part of Seton Hall’s NIT Championship team last year, being named to the NIT All-Tournament Team. He set career highs in points, rebounds, assists and blocks per game, and Davis became just the sixth player in the Big East since 2010-11 to average 16 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free-throw line in conference play.
Now with the Rebels, Davis has scored in double figures 11 times this season. Davis also has six games with multiple blocks, with a season-high five against Georgia in Ole Miss’s SEC opener. Davis has played more than 25 minutes 10 times this season.
6. #0. Malik Dia 6’9” 250 lbs. Jr. Forward Murfreesboro, Tenn. Belmont Transfer
9.6 pts, 5.9 rebs, 45.8 FG%, 25% 3-PT FG, 64.8 FT%, 20.1 mpg
Dia comes to Ole Miss after playing last season at Belmont, earning a spot on the All-MVC Third-Team. He averaged 16.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, tying for the team lead with 26 blocks.
With seven double-digit scoring games this season, Dia has five of them in his last eight games. In Ole Miss’s win at Alabama, Dia had 23 points and 19 rebounds. Dia also has two games in SEC play with five three-pointers.
7. #7. Davon Barnes 6’4” 205 lbs. Sr. Guard Memphis, Tenn. Sam Houston Transfer
5.5 pts, 3.3 rebs, 39.1 FG%, 19.2 3-PT FG%, 75% FT, 20.8 mpg
A member of the All-CUSA Second-Team in 2023-2024, Barnes has started 10 games in his first season with the Rebels. He’s scored in double figures three times and has five games with three or more assists and five games with multiple steals. Barnes also has seven games with five or more rebounds.
8. #1. Mikeal Brown-Jones 6’8” 225 lbs. Sr. Forward North Philadelphia, Pa. UNC Greensboro Transfer
5 pts/gm., 1.9 rebs, 53.6 FG%, 2-8 3-PT FG, 75% FT, 10.8 mpg
In 2023-2024, Brown-Jones was an All-SoCon First-Team member after leading the Spartans with 18.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He also had two games with 39 points and led the Spartans with 24 blocks.
Brown-Jones has three double-digit scoring games this season and has played double-digit minutes 14 times.
9. #8. Eduardo Klafke 6’5” 195 lbs. Fr. Guard Franca SP, Brazil
2.1 pts, 1.2 rebs, 55.6 FG%, 12-23 3-PT FG, 4-7 FT, 11.2 mpg
On3 had Klafke ranked as the seventh-best combo guard in the Class of 2024, and 247Sports had him ranked as the top player in Brazil.
In his first season with the Rebels, Klafke has two games with eight points and multiple three-pointers. Klafke has played double-digit minutes 12 times.
Klafke’s father Rogerio played on the Brazilian National Team in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and also played in the FIBA World Cup in 1994, 1998 and 2002.
Head Coach: Chris Beard (2nd season)
It was not even six years ago that Chris Beard had the Texas Tech Red Raiders less than 30 seconds away from winning a National Championship. Beard was named the AP National Coach of the Year in that 2018-19 Season, one of five seasons he spent in Lubbock.
Beard spent one season at Arkansas-Little Rock prior to leading the Red Raiders, a season where Arkansas-Little Rock won a First Round game against Purdue in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Most recently prior to Ole Miss, Beard spent one full season and part of another at Texas. The Longhorns advanced to the Second Round in the NCAA Tournament in Beard’s first season in 2021-2022.
The Rebels finished 10th in the SEC with a 7-11 record in 2023-24, Beard’s first season. But Beard now has the Rebels in the Top 25 and poised to make an NCAA Tournament appearance in his second season as the Rebels head coach.
Keys to the Game
1. Set the tone in the first four minutes; show that Saturday’s loss isn’t going to linger into this game, just like it did at Tennessee last Tuesday night following the loss at Vanderbilt: Kentucky came out really impressively against Tennessee last Tuesday night. If they’re able to duplicate that this Tuesday night against Ole Miss, the Wildcats are going to put all the pressure on the Rebels to keep up with them offensively.
2. Cause some sort of disruption on defense; get Ole Miss out of their rhythm: The Rebels have 338 assists through 22 games. That’s an average of 15.4 per game. Two players, Sean Pedulla and Jaylen Murray, have 80+ assists. Kentucky has to find a way to knock the Rebels out of rhythm offensively, which will also allow the Wildcats to get out and run against a Rebels team that just gave up 92 points to Auburn.
3. Shot-making is going to be paramount: Ole Miss did give up 92 points to Auburn, but they scored 82 points themselves. Kentucky couldn’t quite match Arkansas’s scoring and three-point shooting this past Saturday night. They’ll have to do so on the road against Ole Miss on Tuesday night if they’re going to win this game.
Score Prediction: Wildcats 87 – Rebels 84
Kentucky has proven to be very good in games after a loss. They’ve only lost consecutive games just once this season. This is a game they can win.
However, nothing is automatic in the SEC this season. That’s why this game will be another close, high-scoring game. A win would put the Wildcats back over .500 in the SEC at 5-4, which would set Kentucky up nicely to string together a winning streak going into late February and March.