Ole Miss Basketball Looks Ahead To Vanderbilt Amid Snowstorm – The Daily Mississippian

The Ole Miss Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams will both square off against Vanderbilt this weekend. On the women’s side, the Commodores are ranked No. 5, and on the men’s side, the Commodores are No. 18. 
The snow storm in Oxford affected both games. The Lady Rebels were originally scheduled to play Vanderbilt on Jan. 29 in Oxford. The game has been moved to Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala., and will take place on Friday, Jan. 30 at 2 p.m. CT.
The men’s team was supposed to play the Commodores at home on Saturday, Jan. 31; however, they will instead travel to Nashville the same day. The teams’ second matchup on March 4 was originally to be played in Nashville; now, the Commodores will come to Oxford.
Women
The Lady Rebels defeated the Commodores 76-71 victory on Feb. 2, 2025 in Nashville, marking their fifth straight win against Vanderbilt. 
This season, the Commodores are 20-1 overall. Their only loss of the season came against then-No. 2 South Carolina; they boast wins against then-No. 5 LSU and then-No. 7 Michigan.
The Lady Rebels are 17-4 overall and 4-2 in SEC play. They have shown their ability to defeat elite teams — they beat then-No. 5 Oklahoma and then-No. 18 Notre Dame — yet they have also fallen flat in a few games. They lost to then-No. 24 Michigan State by 17; more recently, on Jan. 18, they lost by 23 to then-unranked Georgia.
This is a vital game for Ole Miss. A win over a top SEC team could propel them in the rankings in a conference where 10 out of 16 teams are ranked inside the Top 25. 
Ole Miss will need to fend off Commodore guard Mikayla Blakes, who averages 24.7 points per game (No. 3 in the country). Guard Aubrey Galvan helps facilitate the offense with 6.3 assists per game. Blakes and Galvan are also aggressive defenders; they both average more than 3 steals per game apiece.
On the other side, guard/forward Cotie McMahon also has the ability for top-end scoring. She averages 19.4 points per game, including a 33-point outing in the team’s most recent game against Missouri. If McMahon scores at a high clip and the team minimizes turnovers, the Lady Rebels could very well win this game. 
Men
The Rebels’ outlook against Vanderbilt looks bleak. After winning three straight games against Missouri, then-No. 21 Georgia and Mississippi State, the Rebels dropped their past two games to unranked Auburn and Kentucky, moving to 11-9 overall and 3-4 in SEC play.
Kentucky played Vanderbilt earlier this week. The Commodores beat the Wildcats 80-55. They stand ahead of the Rebels with a 17-3 overall record (4-3 SEC). They beat then-No. 13 Alabama on Jan. 7, but have lost their two most recent ranked matchups against then-No. 19 Florida and then-No. 20 Arkansas.
Historically, Vanderbilt holds a narrow advantage over Ole Miss. Since 1952, the Rebels are 17-20 overall against the Commodores — 10-7 at home and 6-11 away. 
Last season, Vanderbilt beat Ole Miss 77-72. Forward Malik Dia scored 22 points and guard Sean Pedulla added 21. 
Vanderbilt will push the pace against the Rebels. Guards Tyler Tanner and Duke Miles and forward Tyler Nickel all average more than 14 points per game. 
Tanner, despite standing at only 6-feet-0-inches, is one of the fastest players in the conference and plays pesky defense. Nickel is a knockdown three point shooter; his 45.8% from beyond the arc is No. 6 in the country.
The Rebels scored 97 points in an overtime victory over Georgia, so they have the potential to play fast. Guard AJ Storr has scored 17 points or more in the past five games. To win this one, though, they will have to be nearly perfect.
Akayla Hughes is a sophomore journalism major with a double minor in French and mathematics from Ridgeland, Miss. She serves as a News Writer and Sports Staff Writer, as well as a Photographer for The Daily Mississippian. In her free time, she likes to watch Formula 1, hike and travel. After graduation, she plans to attend law school and pursue sports and entertainment Law.
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