MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Ole Miss knows what Saturday morning's tipoff against No. 18 Memphis means.
"You hear the clichés that it's always another game. But this game is not another game." Rebels senior guard Jarkel Joiner said. "This is a big game for us. We know how big it is. We're going to try to do our best in practice; our scout team is really good and execute their plays in practice so we know what they've got. We know how big this game is and we're ready."
For the Rebels, it's a chance at a Quad One win against a regional rival. For Memphis, a chance to get back on track.
Wednesday's loss to Georgia was not pretty. Neither were Penny Hardaway's postgame comments.
"There aren't enough guys in that locker room who care about winning unless they are the ones that are helping us win," he told 98.9 the Roar of Memphis postgame.
Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis had a more forgiving explanation when asked about the Tigers recent struggles.
"Penny's a good coach. I think they'll figure it out," he said Thursday. "I think they've played some really good pockets of basketball. I mean, it's just college hoops. They played a red-hot Iowa State team that's undefeated. And you go on the road in any Power 5 school in a good atmosphere like Georgia had, anything can happen. It's just early in the year and we're all still trying to figure out our teams."
Saturday will also mark the first time that former Whitehaven Tiger and former Memphis Tigers recruiting target Matthew Murrell will take on his hometown team with his Rebels.
"I know a good amount of the players on the team," he said. "Of course, me being from Memphis, you always want to play the hometown, so it's going to be exciting."
Memphis and Ole Miss tip off Saturday at 11:00 a.m. The Tigers enter as two-point favorites.