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Men's Basketball Joe Browning

Seahawks Eye First Meeting With Ole Miss

WILMINGTON, North Carolina – UNCW and new head coach Takayo Siddle journey down to the Magnolia State on Saturday to take on Southeastern Conference member Ole Miss for the first time in men's basketball.
 
The Seahawks, 3-2, and Rebels, 1-0, collide at 5 p.m. ET in The Pavilion on campus in Oxford, Miss. The UNCW-Ole Miss matchup will be carried locally on The Breeze, 95.9 FM, with play-by-play voice Mike Vaccaro and color analyst Marty Feurer on the call. The game may also be heard worldwide on the station's website, www.959thebreeze.com. Video is scheduled for SECN+.
 
UNCW is coming off a 116-66 demolition of NAIA member St. Andrews late Wednesday. The Seahawks placed five men in double figures and shot a season-high 60.3 percent to roll past the Knights in the home opener. In Siddle's debut at Trask Coliseum, the Seahawks registered the fourth largest margin of victory in the program's history.
 
Siddle's club is capping a busy week that features three games in six days. The Seahawks opened the stretch with an 88-78 overtime loss at East Carolina before Wednesday's shellacking of the Knights.
 
Ole Miss, meanwhile, has had its issues with Covid-19 and just played its season opener on Thursday, racing past Jackson State, 80-45, on Thursday night in Oxford. The Rebels, the last school from a Power 5 conference to start the 2020-21 season, had their Justin Reed Ole Miss Classic (Nov. 25-27) cancelled as well as a matchup vs. Memphis on Dec. 5. Team-related activities were paused until Dec. 7.
 
The Rebels, 15-17 overall last season and 6-12 in the SEC under Kermit Davis, return four starters, along with one of the top graduate transfers in the country in former Arizona State standout Romello White. The 6-8, 235-pound forward, a three-year starter with the Sun Devils, is a defensive specialist who could make things difficult for the Seahawks inside.
 
Point guard Devontae Shuler, a third-year man from Irmo, S.C., is joined in the backcourt by another graduate transfer, Dimencio Vaughn, from Rider. Shuler was named Preseason Second-Team All-SEC by the league's coaches and ranks 10th all-time in Ole Miss history with 142 career steals.
 
 "Ole Miss will be physical and tough," said Siddle. "They will present some challenges for us, but I'm looking forward to it."
 
Ole Miss is one of three first-time opponents on the non-conference slate, but it's not the first time UNCW has faced Davis. The Ole Miss head coach headed up Middle Tennessee State's club in 2016-17 when the Seahawks dropped a close 68-63 decision to MTSU in the Challenge in Music City Tournament at the Nashville Auditorium.
 
Like the Seahawks, the Rebels are tackling a busy stretch, playing three games in five days at home. Ole Miss is the most experienced team in the SEC with 15,861 combined minutes.
 
Seahawk Storylines
  • Head Coach Takayo Siddle of UNCW has used four different starting lineups in the first five contests and a different one in the last three outings. Senior guard Mike Okauru is the only player to start all five games in 2020-21.
  • The Seahawks have played seven of the 14 SEC schools through the years and stand 2-15 against the league. UNCW has lost five straight to SEC opponents since a 71-54 victory over Mississippi State on Dec. 21, 1996.
  • The game is the one of three matchups this season between the CAA and SEC. James Madison travels to Florida and Northeastern visits Georgia - both on Dec. 22 - in the other two contests involving the leagues.
  • The Pavilion at Ole Miss serves as the backdrop for the program in Oxford. The $96.5 million facility opened in 2016 and usually seats 9,500 fans. Oxford is located in the North Central Hills region of Mississippi.
  • The Seahawks stand 1-1 against Mississippi foes, splitting a pair of games with Mississippi State during the1996 and 1997 seasons. MSU defeated UNCW, 77-54, on Nov. 25, 1995, in Starkville, Miss., before the Seahawks evened the score on Dec. 21, 1996, with a 71-54 verdict at Trask Coliseum.
  • Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis owns a 438-268 (.620) career record in coaching stops at Idaho (twice), Texas A&M, Middle Tennessee State and Ole Miss. Davis has been named Coach of the Year in four different leagues.
  • The Rebels stand 16-20 in the Southeastern Conference in Davis' two seasons in Oxford.
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Mike Okauru

#4 Mike Okauru

G
6' 3"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Mike Okauru

#4 Mike Okauru

6' 3"
Senior
G