Ole Miss athletics director Pete Boone believes the men's basketball team will have no building issues for its 3 p.m., SEC tip Saturday against Alabama.

The Ole Miss women were unable to finish Thursday night's game against No. 4 Tennessee when strong storms swept through Oxford, and water hit the floor of aging Tad Smith Coliseum. The Lady Vols led 66-39 with 5 minutes, 24 seconds on the clock and after a 20-minute delay were awarded the victory.

The unusual intensity of the storms were an issue, said Boone, who is in Birmingham today for an SEC meeting with ESPN.

“I'm not sure where the leaks came from. You're not going to have leaks if the vents are covered at the top, and it's my understanding the vents were covered. If you have sideways blowing rain that can make a difference, but you can't just hope that that never happens. It's one of those things that have to get fixed, and the university will get it done.”

Boone said he doesn't believe the incident will change the timetable for a new multi-use arena that the school is considering. He does believe halting a game with roughly 5 1-2 minutes still to play emphasizes the need for a new building.

“When there are no compelling issues sometimes it drags longer in getting things done. When there are compelling issues, there seems to be more of a sense of urgency in discussion. But even if we said we were going to (build a new arena) today, we would still be talking several years down the road. It just takes a while. There are so many issues about location and design. It could be two years in just the construction.”