GAME NOTES: The Ole Miss Rebels welcome the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks to Tad Smith Coliseum on Sunday night as part of the Emerald Coast Classic.

NAU opened its season with a pair of difficult road games, losing to both Xavier (93-60) and Toledo (71-58). The Lumberjacks notched the win column in their home opener on Thursday by making easy work of Fresno State, 73-52.

Ole Miss was stunned in its season opener at home versus Charleston Southern with a 66-65 setback, but it has since turned things around with two straight victories. The Rebels most recently dismissed Southern on Thursday in another preliminary round of the event, 69-38.

This marks the first-ever meeting between the programs.

The Lumberjacks barely broke a sweat in their latest contest, as they opened up a convincing 39-23 advantage at the half over Fresno State and eventually cruised to a 19-point victory. They were hardly lighting it up from the field at just 41.2 percent, but they knocked down 8-of-19 from beyond the arc while holding Fresno State without a 3-pointer (0-of-9). Aaseem Dixon was on fire from long distance, making seven treys on nine attempts en route to a career- high 30 points. Kris Yanku was valuable off the bench with 14 points, making 10-of-11 at the free-throw line.

NAU has made a habit of connecting from deep this season with 7.3 3-pointers per game, but its overall offensive production (.372 FG percentage, 63.7 ppg) has been lackluster, while it opponents make greater than 50 percent of its field goal tries. Despite Dixon's (11.7 ppg) big performance the last time out, he's shooting a woeful 23.7 percent from the floor on the campaign. Quinton Upshur (14.0 ppg) and Yanku (10.0 ppg) are the other double-digit scorers.

After exchanging a few leads with Southern very early in the game, Ole Miss caught fire at the end of the first half to take a commanding 22-point lead into intermission, and the outcome was never in doubt from there. Its defensive effort was outstanding, as they forced Southern into more turnovers (22) than field goals (14). On the offensive end of the court, the squad shot just 40 percent from the floor and were led by just two double-digit scoring performances from Stefan Moody (13 points) and LaDarius White (12 points).

The Rebels have established a similar trend on the season. While their offensive production has lagged behind (.399 FG percentage, 69.3 ppg), they have shined on the other end of the court by holding opponents to 56.0 ppg and 31.2 percent shooting. Jarvis Summers (11.7 ppg), White (11.3 ppg) and Moody (11.3 ppg) are all neck-and-neck for the scoring lead.

Although NAU has the potential to light it up from 3-point range, its inconsistencies are worrisome going up against a stout Ole Miss defensive attack. Expect the Rebels take another low-scoring affair.