DUNKEL INDEX
DUNKEL INDEX
Nelly
LSU over Mississippi
Ole Miss started the season with great promise, opening 9-1. Wins over Miami, DePaul, and Penn State haven't proven to be worth a lot and while overall it was a high quality non-conference schedule the Rebels have not held up in SEC play. Mississippi enters this game having lost five of the last six games and it is hard to envision the Rebels redeeming an ugly 81-55 loss at LSU early in the conference season. LSU didn’t shoot particularly well in that game but they suffocated Ole Miss into just 35 percent shooting and 17 turnovers to run away with the win, leading by 20 at the half. The Tigers are not a team that is getting any attention but at 17-10 with a decent resume building this could be a NCAA tournament team with a strong finish. LSU has played with urgency in recent weeks with four straight wins and while this team lost a couple of ugly games in November the overall numbers are shaping up with a decent strength of schedule, a marquee win over a strong Marquette team and sitting in fourth place in the SEC with a chance to move up into third if they win out. While Mississippi owns strong defensive numbers for the season, the intensity has not been there in recent games, allowing over 75 points per game and 48 percent shooting over the last five contests. The Rebels are 11-2 at home this season but LSU is 8-3 ATS in the last eleven road games and the Tigers have six road or neutral wins this season. Mississippi has failed to cover in each of the last three home games and there is much more at stake for the road team in this match-up.