Ole Miss faces the Dayton Flyers in an Anticipated Rematch / OPEN THREAD

Dayton's an interesting opponent. Currently, their RPI sits at #55 per RealTimeRPI (ours is #33) and their record sits at 9-4. Among those nine wins, are some pretty intriguing ones, including wins over Wake Forest, Minnesota and Alabama. Their four losses, though, have come Miami (who the Rebels defeated), Buffalo, a good Murray State team and Seton Hall. They're seemingly about as consistent as our Rebels which, is to say, not all that much.

Tonight at 6:00 PM central, the Rebels will hit the floor in Dayton to take on the Flyers in a rematch from last year's 78-71 loss. They're likely still recoiling from two pulled-hair-inducing losses and will be missing Murphy Holloway, who is arguably the Southeastern Conference's most prolific rebounder. To put it simply, very little is working in Ole Miss' favor for this matchup.

Dayton boasts three players who average double-digit scoring figures per game: Kevin Dillard, Josh Benson, and Chris Johnson. Benson is also second on the team in rebounds and tied for the lead in blocked shots. Paul Williams is likely to get the start at guard for Dayton which, considering his .434 three-point percentage, should see him perform well against our defense just as USM and MTSU's guards did.

Ultimately, the Rebels will struggle mightily both a) on the road and b) without Murphy Holloway in the lineup. Murphy's been everything we'd want him to be this season, averaging 9.9 points and 9.6 rebounds a game which, if you round up (which is totally convenient) is a double-double every time he hits the floor. Without his presense underneath the basket, we worry that the Rebels will have a very difficult time controlling possessions and dictating the pace of the game. Dayton's well coached and talented enough to exploit this.

BOLD PREDICTIONS:

Jarvis Summers scores in double figures.

Reginald Buckner earnes three fouls before the 5:00 minute mark in the first half.

Terrence Henry has 8+ rebounds

SCORE PREDICTION:

Ole Miss Rebels 62 - Dayton Flyers 74

OPEN THREAD:

Since anyone living in not-Ohio won't be able to get this game (no word from official HQ as to whether or not this will be on ESPN3), we'll just go ahead and make this post an open game. I hope spending our New Year's Eve Eve watching a silent gametracker, all while sharing our bullshit comments on this here site is much more exciting than it sounds.