Ole Miss Rebels face Ball State Cardinals in first round of NCAA Tournament

Ball State Cardinals (27-7, 19-2 MAC) vs. Ole Miss Rebels (20-10, 11-7 SEC)

Waco, Texas; Friday, 6 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Rebels -13.5; over/under is 133.5

BOTTOM LINE: No. 25 Ole Miss and Ball State play in the NCAA Tournament first round.

The Rebels’ record in SEC play is 11-7, and their record is 9-3 against non-conference opponents. Ole Miss is 1-3 in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Cardinals are 19-2 against MAC teams. Ball State is third in the MAC giving up 59.8 points while holding opponents to 37.7% shooting.

Ole Miss makes 44.2% of its shots from the field this season, which is 6.5 percentage points higher than Ball State has allowed to its opponents (37.7%). Ball State averages 14.5 more points per game (72.7) than Ole Miss allows to opponents (58.2).

TOP PERFORMERS: Starr Jacobs is averaging 10.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals for the Rebels. Kirsten Deans is averaging 2.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Marie Kiefer is averaging 7.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.8 blocks for the Cardinals. Alex Richard is averaging 19.9 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rebels: 6-4, averaging 71.8 points, 34.4 rebounds, 15.4 assists, 10.4 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 42.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.5 points per game.

Cardinals: 8-2, averaging 68.0 points, 34.4 rebounds, 15.8 assists, 6.3 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 45.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 58.3 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.