OXFORD — Ole Miss basketball failed to hold serve at home last week, splitting games with Mississippi State and Auburn.

Now, if it wants to remain in the top half of the SEC, it will have to steal one of two upcoming road games on the schedule. The first comes on Tuesday (5:30 p.m., SEC Network), when the Rebels (18-4, 5-4 SEC) travel to play surging South Carolina (19-3, 7-2).

Here’s what to watch for.

Two of college basketball’s biggest turnaround stories clash

Roughly 11 months ago, Ole Miss and South Carolina met in Nashville as two of the four teams obligated to play on the unglamorous first day of the SEC Tournament.

The Gamecocks had just concluded a four-win regular season riddled with dysfunction to start Lamont Paris’ tenure as coach. The Rebels had fired former coach Kermit Davis after recording just three SEC wins and were playing out the schedule under interim Win Case.

Now, both reside in the top five of the SEC. Paris’ second season in charge has made South Carolina one of college basketball’s best stories. Winners of five straight, the Gamecocks have conference victories over Kentucky and Tennessee and have lost once at home all season.

Ole Miss has enjoyed a similar renaissance in its first season under coach Chris Beard. The Rebels finished their nonconference slate unbeaten and have proven themselves capable of winning in the SEC, though a recent loss to Auburn halted the momentum from a three-game winning streak.

Meechie Johnson and Jaylen Murray set for intriguing guard matchup

South Carolina’s leading scorer is its point guard, Meechie Johnson, who is in his second season with the program after transferring in from Ohio State.

Johnson averages 14.9 points per game, and is a willing 3-point shooter, attempting nearly six in each contest and shooting 35.2% from beyond the arc.

He’ll be met by Ole Miss point guard Jaylen Murray, an offseason find by Beard out of St. Peter’s who has blossomed as a Rebel. Murray gives the Rebels 14.5 points per contest and is also prolific from beyond the arc, where he shoots 43%.

The clash of off-the-ball guards is equally interesting, with a pair of veterans in that spot. South Carolina’s Ta’Lon Cooper is the second-best 3-point shooter in the SEC at 47.4%. He’s also a willing facilitator, posting 4.4 assists per game.

The Rebels rely on their two-guard, Mattew Murrell, for 16.8 points per game. He’s unlocked a newfound efficiency under Beard, shooting a career-high 47% from the field on the season.

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Keep an eye on status of Jamarion Sharp pregame for Ole Miss basketball

Jamarion Sharp, Ole Miss’ 7-foot-5 rim protector, missed Saturday’s game against Auburn with what a team spokesperson described as a non-COVID illness.

“At this point, he’s kind of day-to-day,” Beard said Saturday.

The Rebels certainly missed Sharp against the Tigers. His absence asked a lot of fellow center Moussa Cisse, who played for 24 minutes ‒ six more than his previous average in SEC games.

Auburn dominated Ole Miss on the offensive glass, something that has been arguably the biggest problem for the Rebels this season. Ole Miss has one of the worst defensive rebounding percentages in all of college basketball, and the worst in the SEC.

South Carolina is a strong offensive-rebounding team, at 33.5% on the season. Whether or not Sharp plays, finding a way to mitigate that will be a major key for Ole Miss.

Ole Miss basketball vs. South Carolina score prediction

South Carolina 78, Ole Miss 74. If Ole Miss can defend the way it did on the road against Texas A&M two games ago, it can win this one. But the Rebels haven’t proven they can do that consistently on the road in conference play.

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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