The Ole Miss Rebels won their first game of the SEC Tournament, beating Arkansas 83-80 on March 13 in the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Sean Pedulla was the hero of the game, making the winning shot. However, the honor of having the best game goes to forward Malik Dia, who had 19 points, eight rebounds and an assist.
The Rebels were in this close situation because of their turnovers, with 11 for the game. Ole Miss dominated the first half, but struggled in the second.
First half
The Rebels won the tip and forward Dia got them started with a fadeaway two. Ole Miss started off hot, going on a 9-0 run to begin the game. The Razorbacks got going as the game started to even out. Dia was on fire early, having nine of the Rebels’ first 11 points.
The Ole Miss offense started to stall out, but guard/forward Davon Barnes hit a three to end their drought. Arkansas took their first lead off a wide open three. Ole miss tied the game back up at 16. Forward Jaemyn Brakefield stole the ball away, giving some life back to a stagnant Rebel offense.
Halfway through the first half, Dia already had 12 points, he couldn’t miss a shot early. Both teams were going back and forth, with the Rebels starting to push their advantage, holding a double-digit lead. The difference for Ole Miss early was their dominance in getting defensive rebounds. They had 15 for the first half. They also had multiple players in double figures. Dia had 14 at the half and guard Jaylen “Juju” Murray had 10 points.
Ole Miss went into halftime on a bit of a scoring drought, with the Razorbacks going on a 7-0 run into the half. The game was still in the Rebels’ hands, but Arkansas was starting to fight back. Ole Miss went into the half with an eight point lead.
Second half
The Rebels went back and forth with the Razorbacks, with their lead staying around that eight number that it was at the half. Ole Miss went on a two minute scoring drought allowing Arkansas to close the gap to two. Barnes broke the drought by hitting a three to gain some momentum back.
The lead stayed at five for a little bit, with both teams making shots and getting to the line. The lead shortened to three, but Ole Miss was still in control. That went away quickly as a costly turnover cut the lead to just one. The Razorbacks took the lead off a three, their first lead since the beginning of the game.
It was tied halfway through the second half, with Arkansas taking the lead with two free throws. The Razorbacks started to go on a run as turnovers really hurt the Rebels. Arkansas began to pull ahead even more and all of the momentum turned over to the Razorbacks’ side.
Ole Miss was a non-factor in the paint with no points in there for a majority of the second half, something that spelled disaster for the Rebels. Ole Miss gained a little momentum back, with Dia making two free throws to cut the lead to two. Murray tied the game up with two more free throws. Arkansas started to get careless with the ball, allowing Ole Miss to regain momentum in the closing minutes.
Dia dunked the ball to firmly give momentum back to the Rebels. Ole Miss pushed their lead to five off a Murray free throw. Both teams were fouling quite a bit, with 10 and 11 fouls, respectively. Both teams were going blow for blow, with the lead staying very close for the final two minutes.
Dre Davis got an and-one to tie the game up, converting it. A foul on Dia gave Arkansas a chance to take the lead in the final seconds of the game, but they missed both. Pedulla made the final shot to win the game 83-80.
Who’s next
Ole Miss plays Auburn Friday, March 14, at 12 p.m.
