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No. 22 Mississippi looks to stay unbeaten at home

Feb 2, 2008 - 12:01 PM South Carolina (10-10) at No. 22 Ole Miss (16-3) 5:00 pm EST

OXFORD, Mississippi (Ticker) - No. 22 Mississippi has to be happy to be at home when it faces South Carolina on Saturday in a Southeastern Conference matchup.

The Rebels (16-3, 3-3 West) are 10-0 at home this season. They enter off an impressive 74-58 thrashing off No. 18 Vanderbilt on Wednesday.

After criticizing his young perimeter players following an 88-68 loss on Saturday at Mississippi State, Rebels coach Andy Kennedy turned down the pressure before the Vanderbilt game.

"Sometimes you want to yell and scream at them," Kennedy said. "And sometimes you have to bake cookies for them, and I've got to mindful when to push and when to back off."

Freshman Chris Warren leads Ole Miss at 16.1 points and 5.1 assists per game. Senior center Dwayne Curtis averages 14.6 points and a team-high 8.8 rebounds.

The Gamecocks (10-10, 2-4 East) have won only two of their last seven games, but are coming off a 62-56 home victory over Georgia on Wednesday.

South Carolina is led by sophomore guard Devan Downey, who leads the conference in scoring at 19.6 points.

The Gamecocks are 0-8 all-time at Okford's Tad Smith Coliseum.