The oldest basketball rivalry in Southeastern Conference is Mississippi State versus Ole Miss. The most striking thing about this series is the fact that you never know what might happen when these arch-rivals meet. Although you may believe you know the answer, you really don’t. The 1995-96 Mississippi State men’s basketball team was the only one to make it to the Final Four. They played in Oxford against an Ole Miss young team with a losing record. The State team was heavily favored and about to become even hotter. Three weeks later, No. The SEC Championship was won by Kentucky. Rob Evans coached Ole Miss. He paired a guard tandem with Keith Carter, the school’s athletic director and Michael White, the Florida head coach. Few thought Ole Miss had much chance. The young Rebels won the game 71-64. This series is full of amazing stuff. It happens. For instance, last season, both teams faced off at Starkville, with the Bulldogs being the favorites. The Rebels won the match 64-46. They played at Oxford a month later, where Ole Miss was supposed win. The Rebels lost. The State won 66 to 56. It’s impossible to know. With all of that in mind, I tuned in to Saturday’s 265th basketball Egg Bowl in Oxford. State finished the conference with a record of 10-3 and 1-0. Ole Miss lost its previous SEC match, which was 8-5. All power ratings showed that State was significantly higher than Ole Miss. Ole Miss was coming off of a game where the Rebels had the ball turned 27 times. This allowed them to win defeat. In overtime, Tennessee won 66-60. State was two points ahead of Oxford for all these reasons and more. You know what happened. Ole Miss won 82-72, after trailing by 20. Ole Miss had the ball turned over 12 times and shot almost 50% from beyond three-point range. We should have expected it, in retrospect. Every State-Ole Miss match is remembered for some reason. Most recently, Ole Miss sophomore Matthew Murrell was unconscious. He made everything he could throw at the basket. Well, not quite. In 11 field goal attempts, he missed one. This is a shooting percentage at 90.9%. He made all five of his three-point attempts. He made all six free throws and was 100% from three-point land. He scored 31 points which is 22 more than his season average. He shot the ball 17 times and made 16. This feat would have been impossible with tall, fast, and tall people around you. It’s called “being in the zone” in basketball. For State it had to feel like the Twilight Zone. Many of those shots were highly guarded. Murrell didn’t seem to care. This was the performance Kermit Davis Jr. expected of Murrell when he became Ole Miss’ most highly-rated basketball recruit. Or at least since Cob Jarvis signed Johnny Neumann, a Memphis hotshot. Neumann scored 40 points per game during his Ole Miss varsity season (1970-71). Murrell, on the other hand, averaged just 4.2 points per contest as a freshman while making only 33% of his shots. Murrell was not living up to his high expectations, at least until Saturday night. His coach Davis said that he had seen signs during practice that Murrell was about break free. Davis stated, “He’s been practicing this way lately, making every shot exactly like that.” Murrell was aided greatly by his teammates. The play of Nysier Brooks (7-foot), a transfer from Miami, was equally crucial to the Ole Miss win. He played his best game as an Ole Miss Rebel. He was a king of the court scoring 15 points and pulling down 16 rebounds. He also blocked five shots, which caused the Bulldogs’ to adjust on some others. Eight of those 16 rebounds were offensive. Daeshun Ruffin, a freshman point guard, was also a huge scorer and gave out eight assists. Ruffin is transitioning from Callaway High’s shooter and scorer to becoming a distributor and point guard in the SEC. Ruffin’s success in this transition was evident Saturday night. Mississippi State? It’s hard to say. The Bulldogs were without 6-11 ToluSmith and his 14 points, eight rebounds and eight games per game. Smith could have been a significant difference against Nysier Brooks’ dominance. It would be a strong possibility. It shouldn’t take so long for us to find out. Ole Miss will travel to Starkville on Saturday, Jan. 22, for a Saturday afternoon match. Between now and then, there’s plenty to do in basketball. The Rebels’ quick turnaround game at Texas A&M on Tuesday evening will be the first. Before making the trip to State, the Rebels will play host to Auburn in Missouri and Missouri. State will host Georgia on Wednesday, and Alabama on Saturday. Then it will travel to Florida one week later. The ‘Dogs will then return home to face Ole Miss at the 266th meeting. What can you expect? Of course, the unexpected.