Ole Miss freshman Patton Pinkins watches a three-pointer fall in the first half of Saturday's SEC Tournament semifinal game against Arkansas. | Ole Miss Athletics
Ole Miss freshman Patton Pinkins watches a three-pointer fall in the first half of Saturday's SEC Tournament semifinal game against Arkansas. | Ole Miss Athletics

Ole Miss’ SEC Tournament Run Ends With 93-90 Overtime Loss to Arkansas

BY Taylor Hodges

It was fun while it lasted, and it nearly kept going, but the miracle run Ole Miss was on at the SEC Tournament is over.

No. 3-seed Arkansas nearly became the latest upset victim of the 15-seeded Rebels in Saturday’s semifinal game, winning 93-90 in overtime.

The end result likely ends the Rebels’ season, but how it ended has to be one of the better ways to go about it. Three wins that few, if anyone, predicted Ole Miss would win and nearly advancing all the way to Sunday’s championship game? That’s got sweeten the taste of what was a sour season. 

The Rebels didn’t play as great as they had earlier this week. They played well, but after four games in four days it’s only natural for the gas tanks to start running on fumes. Here’s how one writer reacted to each half, and overtime, of Saturday’s game.

First Half Reaction

Despite trailing at halftime, Ole Miss is very much in this game, and a win isn’t as far‑fetched as you might think.

The streak of never trailing in the SEC Tournament ended less than two minutes into Saturday’s semifinal against Arkansas. But the streak of surprising performances? That’s still alive.

Ole Miss didn’t have its best half compared to the previous three nights. The hot shooting hasn’t carried over. The turnovers are up. The Rebels are losing the rebounding battle. But they’re defending well, playing with active hands (three steals), and answering every Arkansas surge with one of their own.

The Razorbacks’ largest lead was 11 points midway through the first half, and Ole Miss immediately responded with a 7-0 run to cut it back to a two‑possession game.

One real concern: Arkansas’ success with dunks and alley‑oops. You could call the court “lob city” and it wouldn’t feel like an exaggeration. Even so, Ole Miss has made those plays harder than they look. James Scott has three blocks, all on dunk attempts.

Ilias Kamardine has been a problem for the Razorbacks, too. He’s forced SEC Player of the Year Darius Acuff Jr. into three turnovers and drawn visible frustration from John Calipari on the sideline.

It’s the first time this week Ole Miss has trailed at halftime, but the deficit is only one point. Freshman Patton Pinkins drew a foul on a half‑court heave with 1.1 seconds left and sank all three free throws to tighten the score.

Arkansas has shown it can pull away. Ole Miss has shown it won’t go quietly. The question now is whether the Rebels have one more push in them.

Second Half Reaction

Sometimes a game makes you wonder why the previous 49:30 even mattered when everything comes down to the final 30 seconds.

Arkansas kept swinging and connected on some heavy shots. But Ole Miss never stayed down. A 10-0 Razorbacks run with five minutes left looked like the knockout blow, only for the Rebels to answer with a 6-0 burst that cut the lead to four with four minutes remaining.

Arkansas made mistakes late, but Ole Miss capitalized on the ones that mattered.

There were smart decisions, like Eduardo Klafke passing up an easy layup with the Rebels down six and kicking it to Travis Perry, who buried a corner three to make it 78-75 with 47.7 seconds left.

There was some luck, too. Trevon Brazile missing a dunk with under 30 seconds left changed everything. If that goes down, the final sequence looks completely different.

And Ole Miss earned its chance. After Ilias Kamardine hit two free throws with 7.2 seconds left, the Rebels needed one stop to set up a game-winning shot.

They did not get it. Two seconds ran off the clock before they fouled true freshman Meleek Thomas. He missed the first and made the second. In a blink, Storr sprinted the length of the court and finished an uncontested layup that sent the game to overtime.

Overtime Reaction

What a game. There’ve been a few exciting games for Ole Miss this season, and this one is near the top of the list despite what the final result was.

Storr had monster slam dunk to the lead to only one point and 8.6 seconds left in the game. Acuff missed the first free throw on the ensuring foul and made the second, giving Arkansas a two point lead. That set up similar situation to the end of regulation and it almost played out exactly the same.

Storr got the inbound pass, sprinted down the court and put a good-looking three. It was short and bounced off the front of the rim. Another foul led the Rebels having another chance, with Perry heaving a shot from beyond half court that missed.

Arkansas escapes with a 93-90 win, but Ole Miss deserves recognition for what they just did.

The No. 15 seed in the tournament that hardly anyone predicted to win its first round game, just went all the way to the semifinals, forced overtime and came within inches of beating the tournament’s No. 3 seed. Ole Miss deserves a lot of respect for doing that. It may have even been enough for an invite to the NIT.

But in a sport where only one team ends the season with a win and a smile, what the Rebels just did is worth smiling about.

Ole Miss Leaders

  • Points: AJ Storr, 18
  • Rebounds: James Scott, 9 
  • Assists: Ilias Kamardine/Travis Perry, 3
  • Steals: Ilias Kamardine, 3
  • Blocks: James Scott, 3

Next Up

It is no secret Ole Miss needed to win the SEC title to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament, which was always a difficult task. The Rebels nearly accomplishing it is worthy of praise alone.

There will be plenty of questions to sort through in the coming months, especially with the transfer portal opening in April. There is also the possibility of an NIT bid, which is the only remaining postseason option after the College Basketball Invitational announced it will not hold a tournament this year.

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