Entering the meeting in Lexington, Ole Miss had only beaten Kentucky once all-time in Rupp Arena while the Wildcats owned a commanding series lead of 107-13. Despite sitting at 13-11 and 4-7 in SEC play, the Rebels had been playing some pretty good recent basketball under second year head coach Kermit Davis.
The scoring prowess of stud senior combo guard Breein Tyree was taking up most of the oxygen, but it was actually the play of the Rebels’ defense that was driving this February surge. Ole Miss ranked second in the SEC in defensive efficiency entering the game and had put the clamps on some really good offenses in recent games.