The DePaul college basketball team learned its opponent for the 2011 BIG EAST/SEC Challenge today: the Mississippi Rebels at Allstate Arena. The three-day event features 12 games in December between BIG EAST and SEC programs.
Here’s the full schedule:
Thursday, Dec. 1
St. John’s at Kentucky
Providence at South Carolina
Georgetown at Alabama
Mississippi at DePaul
Friday, Dec. 2
Cincinnati Bearcats at Georgia
Florida at Syracuse
Auburn at Seton Hall
Vanderbilt at Louisville
Saturday, Dec. 3
Arkansas at Connecticut
LSU at Rutgers
Pittsburgh at Tennessee
West Virginia at Mississippi State
The Blue Demons and Rebels square off on Thursday, Dec. 1 at Allstate Arena in the third all-time meeting between the two programs. Both sides have claimed a victory with DePaul winning the first game on Mar. 25, 1983 in the NIT and Ole Miss knocking off the Blue Demons on Dec. 20, 2007 at the San Juan Shootout. The 2007 San Juan Shootout also featured the Clemson Tigers coached by current DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell.
Ole Miss posted a 20-14 record a year ago and lost at California in the first round of the NIT. The Rebels are looking to replace their top two scorers with Terrence Henry as the top returning scorer from the 2010-11 campaign with a 9.7 scoring average. Reginald Buckner was a SEC All-Defensive Team member with 95 blocked shots and a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game to go along with his 6.8 points per outing.
The tip time and the network carrying (ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU) the Ole Miss game will be determined and announced in August. All 12 games of the BIG EAST/SEC Challenge will be nationally televised with six games on ESPN/ESPN2 and six on ESPNU.