The Tennessee men's basketball team is ranked 13th in the nation, has won four consecutive SEC games and 13 in a row at home.

Ole Miss (13-7, 3-4 SEC) has dropped four consecutive contests heading into today's game against the Vols (15-3, 6-1) at Thompson-Boling Arena at 3 p.m. (TV: WVLT).

So why isn't UT coach Bruce Pearl comfortable with this match-up?

"Because Ole Miss is big, strong, physical and athletic,'' Pearl said. "They're deep, and they'll be hard to wear down because of their physicality.

"We'll absolutely have to step up and deal with their physical style of play.''

Rebels sophomore center Dwayne Curtis leads the Ole Miss' charge.

Curtis, 6-foot-8 and 290 pounds, ranks among SEC leaders in field-goal percentage (second, .588), offensive rebounds (second, 3.20 per game), total rebounds (sixth, 7.5 per game) and scoring (10th, 13.9 points per game).

"He is so big and so strong, and he has such a wide base, he's hard to guard,'' Pearl said. "When he posts up, there's no getting around him.''

Pearl said centers Major Wingate and Andre Patterson will need to rely on a lot of help defense.

Most of that help likely will come from UT's 6-4 power forward Dane Bradshaw.

"Coming from the weak side on defense enables you to have a good vision of what's going on,'' Bradshaw said. "I've never shied away from a physical challenge, but they have a couple 6-8, 280-pound guys. You have to realize what you're going up against.''

The Vols also realize they'll need to shoot better to beat Ole Miss.

The Rebels are 5-0 when opponents shoot less than 40 percent, and UT has shot less than 40 percent in its last two games.

Ole Miss also leads the SEC in 3-point field-goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to make only .317 3-pointers -- 273 in SEC play.

"They're allowing only four 3-pointers per game,'' Pearl said. "Why? Because they are athletic, and they play very hard.''

UT point guard C.J. Watson said it's important the Vols get some offense around the goal to help open up the outside shots.

"Chris (Lofton) and I have been getting a lot more attention, so it's tough for us to get our shots,'' said Watson, who was 3-of-11 shooting against Vanderbilt. "Once we get the post going, it opens us up more.''

Pearl said the Vols adjusted to the extra attention on the perimeter against Vanderbilt by slipping Wingate to the basket. Wingate responded with a game-high 16 points in the 69-62 win over the Commodores on Wednesday night.

"Coach Pearl talks to us about out-working our opponent,'' Bradshaw said. "But I'm sure coach (Rod) Barnes is saying the same thing to his team.

"A couple of weeks ago, Ole Miss was atop the SEC West, so we know we'll have to be ready to play like we always do.''

The Rebels opened the SEC schedule with three consecutive wins before dropping their past four contests.

UT officials said a crowd of at least 18,000 is expected at Thompson-Boling Arena for today's game.