Mississippi @ Alabama preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 23, 2018 ) Alabama 66, Mississippi 78

Ole Miss continues to make a mockery of its last-place selection in the SEC preseason poll as it visits Alabama on Tuesday. The No. 20 Rebels bounced back from their only conference loss of the season with an 84-67 victory over Arkansas on Saturday with senior guard Terence Davis, who leads the club in rebounding and assists, continuing his strong season by averaging 19.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists over the last four games.

“We’ve had two top 15 wins, some great wins, but that was probably our best win of the year because of the response after you lose your first league game,'' Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis told reporters. Terence Davis' exceptional play has been essential because point guard Devontae Shuler's minutes are being reduced as he plays through a stress reaction in his foot. The Crimson Tide nearly pulled off a huge upset before falling at No. 1 Tennessee 71-68 on Saturday with sophomore guard John Petty matching a career high with 30 points, but sealing Alabama's fate on a traveling call in the closing seconds. "John was just incredible in the second half,'' Crimson Tide coach Avery Johnson told reporters. "He got to his spots and converted. We ran the first play of the second half for him and he converted to get him going. It was just a lot of fun to watch."

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPNU

ABOUT OLE MISS (14-3, 4-1 SEC): Davis (16.2 points per game along with team highs of 6.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists) and junior guard Breein Tyree (club-best 17.5 points) combine for 42.4 percent of the team's scoring. Shuler (9.9 points, 3.2 assists) has scored a total of nine points in his last two games after averaging 11.5 in his previous four contests. Junior center Dominik Olejniczak (6.8 points, 3.4 rebounds) scored a season-high 13 points and grabbed five boards versus Arkansas for his second double-digit point game in the last four.

ABOUT ALABAMA (11-6, 2-3): Senior forward Donta Hall (11.4 points, team-high 9.0 rebounds) has recorded a double-double in three straight games and six of his last seven, and leads the SEC with nine. Freshman guard Kira Lewis Jr. (14.2 points) leads a balanced scoring attack that boasts seven players averaging at least 6.8 points but has reached his average only once in SEC play. Petty (12.1 points, 4.6 rebounds) averages a club-most 14.4 points and is shooting 45.4 percent from 3-point range in conference games.

TIP-INS

1. The Rebels have won at least 14 of their first 17 games for the seventh time in the 109-year history of the program with the last occurrence in 2012-13, when they started 15-2 en route to winning the SEC tournament.

2. The Crimson Tide are second in the SEC in rebounding margin at plus-6.4, winning the battle on the boards in 16 of 17 games this season.

3. Ole Miss won 78-66 last season with Davis contributing 15 points and nine rebounds.

PREDICTION: Ole Miss 79, Alabama 76