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No. 15 Ole Miss faces rival Mississippi State

Jan 26, 2008 - 2:35 PM No. 15 Ole Miss (15-2) at Mississippi St (13-5) 5:00 pm EST

STARKVILLE, Mississippi (Ticker) -No. 15 Mississippi may be ranked, but intrastate rival Mississippi State is the team with a winning streak on the line heading into Saturday's game.

The Rebels (15-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) are two games behind the Bulldogs (13-5, 4-0) in the Western Division. Mississippi State enters on an eight-game winning streak.

The Bulldogs are allowing a conference-low 60.9 points per game, holding the opposition to 35.9 percent shooting. Sophomore center Jarvis Varnado averages 5.2 blocked shots per game.

Mississippi State is 7-2 at home and leads the SEC's most-played rivalry, 132-103. The teams have split the season series each of the last two seasons, each winning at home.

Junior swingman Jamont Gordon averages 17.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists to pace the Bulldogs.

Ole Miss, which is 2-2 in its last four games, can match the best start in school history set in 1925-26 and matched in 1936-37.

The Rebels are coming off an 80-77 loss at Auburn last Saturday despite a career-high 25 points from freshman guard Chris Warren, who is averaging 15.9 points and 5.3 assists.

Senior center Dwayne Curtis, who is shooting 69 percent from the field, averages 15.1 points and 8.6 rebounds for Ole Miss.