The 22nd-ranked Rebels were unbeaten when they woke up Saturday morning, but they left Knoxville with a 90-64 loss to fifth-ranked Tennessee in front of a rocking capacity crowd of 21,932 in the building formerly known only as Thompson-Boling Arena.

Ole Miss managed to hang around in the first half, but Tennessee making just one of its first 11 three-pointers was the largest reason for that. As soon as the Vols started hitting the good looks they had all night, they could have named their score. Triple digits would have been possible if not for a significantly slower tempo in the closing minutes

There were just two unbeaten teams in Division I men’s basketball heading into the day, and Ole Miss was one of them. The Rebels didn’t play a great non-conference schedule, but they did beat Memphis and N.C. State — the latter by 20 points — and they won at Temple and at UCF. And they hadn’t lost a single game. Every opponent should be respected, but any time you head into January without a loss on your ledger, you’re a team truly worthy of respect. Ole Miss did that.