Jan. 31, 2012

Ole Miss Game Notes

Ole Miss (12-10, 2-7 SEC) at No. 6 Kentucky (20-2, 9-0 SEC)
Date: February 2, 2012
Time: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Lexington, Ky.
Arena: Memorial Coliseum
Radio: Q93.7 (Graham Doty)
Online: Gametracker
Series vs. Kentucky: UM leads, 20-12

- Ole Miss fell to 12-10 overall (2-7 SEC) this season after falling at home to Auburn, 67-54, on Sunday afternoon.               
- Ole Miss will play five of its final seven regular-season games on the road.
- No. 6 Kentucky will be the highest-ranked team Ole Miss has faced this season.
- Sophomore Valencia McFarland (13.6 ppg) and senior Nikki Byrd (13.1 ppg) lead Ole Miss in scoring.
- Byrd recorded her 17th career double-double (and 12th this season) against Mississippi State with 12 points and 14 rebounds.  
- Freshman Tia Faleru recorded her first career double-double against No. 15 Georgia with career-highs in both points (13) and rebounds (10).  
- Byrd (9.5 rpg) and sophomore Kenyotta Jenkins (3.9 rpg) lead the team in rebounding.
- Ole Miss has scored fewer than 50 points in four SEC games this season including three in a row against Mississippi State, Georgia and at South Carolina.
- Head coach Renee Ladner is in her fifth season at the helm. She has a career record of 70-75 overall and 23-46 in SEC play.

REBELS TRAVEL TO PLAY WILDCATS
Ole Miss will try to get back on the winning track when the team travels to nationally-ranked Kentucky Thursday for a 6 p.m. CT game. Ole Miss (12-10 overall, 2-7 SEC) is 8-6 at home this season and 4-4 on the road.  With seven regular-season games remaining, the Rebels have won more games this season (12) than they did all of 2010-11 (10).

ABOUT OLE MISS
Ole Miss is 12-10 overall this season and 2-7 in SEC play after falling at home to Auburn, 67-54, Sunday afternoon.  The Rebels are led by Nikki Byrd (13.1 ppg, 9.5 rpg) and Valencia McFarland (13.6 ppg, 5.3 apg).  Sophomore Kenyotta Jenkins is second on the team in rebounding, averaging 3.9 rebounds per game. Head coach Renee Ladner is in her fifth season at the helm.  

OLE MISS VS. KENTUCKY
Ole Miss leads the all-time series, 20-12.  Kentucky has won the last two meetings between the two schools including a 74-68 win last season in Oxford.  The Rebels’ last win over the Wildcats was a 69-60 win in Oxford on February 1, 2009.  Ole Miss’ last win over Kentucky in Lexington was a 67-65 win on January 14, 2007.  In games played in Lexington, Ole Miss leads 9-6.
 
A LOOK AT KENTUCKY
Kentucky, ranked sixth and fifth in this week’s national polls, is 20-2 overall and leads the SEC with a 9-0 mark.  The Wildcats are led by A’dia Mathies (15.4 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game) and Bria Goss (11.4 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game).  Keyla Snowden leads the team in rebounding averaging 6.3 rebounds per game.  As a team, Kentucky averages 78.1 points per game while holding its opponents to 57.1 points per game.                   

NEWS AND NOTES
In Ole Miss’ last two SEC games against Georgia and South Carolina, the team was outscored in the first half by an average of 23.5 points, but have out score their opponent by an average of 7.5 points in the second half ... Seven times this season, Ole Miss has held its opponent to under 68 points but lost the game (at Lamar, Florida, at Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Georgia, at South Carolina and Auburn) ... Nine of Ole Miss’ game this season have been decided by nine points or less ... The Rebels won back-to-back SEC games for the first time since January of 2010 when the team won five straight conference games ... Ole Miss’ 14-point margin of victory at Alabama marked the Rebels’ biggest margin of victory over and SEC opponent since January 21, 2010 when Ole Miss beat Mississippi State, 66-58 ... Ole Miss recorded 20 assists on 22 field goals in its win over Arkansas ... One opposing team this season has shot over 50 percent from the floor against Ole Miss (LSU, 55.2%) ... This season the Rebels have had two winning streaks of four or more games - a five-game winning streak from 11/18-12/3 and a four-game winning streak from 12/16-12/29 ... Ole Miss shot a season-best 57.1 percent from the floor (32-56) in a win over Cleveland State ...  Ole Miss’ game against Central Michigan marked the first time this season the Rebels led at the half but lost the game ... Prior to the Central Michigan game this year where Ole Miss allowed 61 boards, the Rebels hadn’t allowed 60+ rebounds since 2003 ...  Nikki Byrd has scored a team-high 26 points this season while also recording a team-high 17 rebounds ... Ole Miss held South Alabama without a player scoring in double figures marking the first time since November 19, 2006 that the Rebels did not allow a player on an opposing team to score in double figures.

BYRD RANKED FOURTH IN THE NATION IN DOUBLE-DOUBLES
In the latest NCAA stats released January 30, senior forward Nikki Byrd is fourth in the nation in double-doubles with 12.  She is also 42nd in the nation in rebounding, averaging 9.5 rebounds per game.  The NCAA stats will be released again on Friday, February, 3.  Byrd has been ranked as high as fourth in the nation in rebounding this season.  

FALERU RECORDS FIRST CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Freshman Tia Faleru had a career day in Ole Miss’ loss to No. 15 Georgia.  She recorded her first career double-double with career highs in both points (13) and rebounds (10).  While she is averaging 4.1 points per game and 2.5 rebounds per game this season, in the team’s last five games Faleru is averaging 8.4 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game.

OFFENSIVE WOES
Ole Miss’ game at South Carolina on January 26 marked the fourth time in SEC play, and third consecutive game that Ole Miss failed to score at least 50 points in a game.  The Rebels scored 46 against Mississippi State, 47 against No. 15 Georgia and 43 at South Carolina, all games Ole Miss lost.  The Rebels also scored 44 in a loss to LSU and 48 in a loss to nationally-ranked Miami.  The last time Ole Miss scored 50 points or fewer and won was a 46-45 win over Auburn on January 25, 1984. During SEC play this season, Ole Miss is averaging 64.5 points per game in its wins and 48.7 points per game in its losses.  

BYRD CRACKS CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE LIST
With 17 career double-doubles, senior Nikki Byrd has moved into a tie for ninth all-time at Ole Miss in career double-doubles.  Byrd is tied for ninth all-time with Tarsha Bethley who played from 1996-99.  Three more double-doubles from Byrd would give her sole possession of eighth all-time, passing Yolanda Moore who recorded 19 from 1993-96.

BYRD RECORDS 17TH CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Senior Nikki Byrd recorded her 17th career double-double in a loss to Mississippi State with 12 points and 14 rebounds.  It is her 12th double-double of the season.  From Nov. 18 to Dec. 3, Byrd recorded five consecutive double-doubles to become the first player to record five consecutive double-doubles since Armintie Price in 2007.

With her 12th double-double of the year, Byrd becomes the first player since Armintie Price in 2006-07 to record at least 10 double-double in a season.  Byrd is also the first player in the SEC this year to record double-digit double-doubles.
Byrd, along with junior Courtney Marbra and sophomores Pa’Sonna Hope, Valencia McFarland, and Kenyotta Jenkins and freshman Tia Faleru are the six active players with double-doubles.

Active Players With Double-Doubles
                                      Season    Career
Nikki Byrd                       12           17
Valencia McFarland       1               1
Kenyotta Jenkins          1                1
Tia Faleru                     1                1
Courtney Marbra          0                2
Pa’Sonna Hope            0                 2

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Senior forward Nikki Byrd is on pace to score nearly 900 career points and grab nearly 700 career rebounds.  To date, she has recorded 796 career points (289 this year) and 621 career rebounds (209 this year).  Byrd is averaging 13.1 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game this season.
Sophomore point guard Valencia McFarland is on pace to end her sophomore year with a total of over 750 career points and nearly 280 career assists.  McFarland has recorded 671 career points (300 this year) and 239 career assists (116 this year).  This season, she is averaging 13.6 points per game and 5.3 assists per game.