ST. LOUIS – On the same day the conference coaches named him first-team All-Southeastern Conference and the Associated Press tabbed him second-team All-SEC, Ole Miss junior guard Breein Tyree collected all-district honors from the United States Basketball Writers Association.
Earning a spot on the USBWA District IV Team, Tyree became the ninth Rebel in Ole Miss basketball history to claim the accolade and the first since Stefan Moody following the 2015-16 season.
Tyree has helped Ole Miss produce one of the biggest turnaround seasons in college basketball. Behind the junior’s team-leading 18.5 scoring average, a mark that ranks second in the SEC, the Rebels have already won eight more games than last season for the biggest win improvement among Power 5 schools and 11th nationwide.
He ranks fourth in the SEC in free throw percentage (83.1 percent), as well as sixth in field goal percentage (47.6 percent) and seventh in three-pointers made (2.2 per game) — the only conference player to crack the SEC top 10 in scoring and the aforementioned shooting categories. For the third straight season, Tyree increased his points per game in SEC play. He bumped up his production to 19.1 ppg in conference action, ranking second in the SEC.
The Somerset, New Jersey, native has scored at least 20 points in a team-high 17 games. Over the past 13 contests, Tyree has broken the 20-point plateau in eight gamest to average 20.6 ppg. He was the first Rebel to score 20 points in five consecutive games since Moody, a two-time USBWA All-District honoree, had 14 straight 20-point games from Nov. 25, 2015 to Jan. 28, 2016.
Opening conference play, Tyree exploded for a career-high 31 points against Vanderbilt Jan. 5 to earn SEC Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career. He matched his career high in the win at Georgia Feb. 9 to eclipse 1,000 points for his career. Tyree currently ranks 29th on the Ole Miss scoring list with 1,170 points.
The USBWA has selected All-District teams since the 1956-57 season, its founding year. For each of the nine geographic districts, 10 players are selected (11 in the case of ties in the voting) as well as a player and coach of the year.
The USBWA District IV includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Tyree and the Rebels begin SEC tournament play this week in Nashville. As the No. 7 seed, the Rebels will face No. 10 seed Alabama in the second round Thursday night. Tipoff from Bridgestone Arena is set for 6 p.m. on SEC Network.
District IV
· Jordan Bone, Tennessee
· Tyler Herro, Kentucky
· Garrison Mathews, Lipscomb
· Ja Morant, Murray State
· Jordan Nwora, Louisville
· Admiral Schofield, Tennessee
· Breein Tyree, Ole Miss
· PJ Washington, Kentucky
· Quinndary Weatherspoon, Miss. St.
· Grant Williams, Tennessee
· Dylan Windler, Belmont
Player of the Year
· Grant Williams, Tennessee
Coach of the Year
· Rick Barnes, Tennessee
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