Ole Miss senior forward Jayla Murray reacts after a playing against Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament on Friday. | Ole Miss Athletics
Ole Miss senior forward Jayla Murray reacts after a playing against Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament on Friday. | Ole Miss Athletics

Ole Miss Crashes SEC Tournament Semifinals, Faces Texas Next

BY Taylor Hodges

Dictate and disrupt is the name of the game for No. 24 Ole Miss and they’re living up to it at the SEC Tournament.

The Rebels have dictated both of its wins and are the ones disrupting the tournament bracket. Of the four teams in the semifinals, the top three seeded teams are still alive and seven-seed Ole Miss has crashed the party.

Ole Miss will look to keep disrupting the tournament Saturday night when it tips off against Texas, the tournament’s No. 3 seed and No. 4 ranked team in the nation.

After the 89-78 quarterfinal win against Vanderbilt, coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin talked about how the Rebels’ regular season win against the Commodores gave her team confidence.

“Honestly, people don’t talk about it a lot, but we beat them earlier in the year. My players already had confidence because they had seen it happen,” she said. “But we also put that completely out of our minds because we felt like they were playing for something — and so were we. Right now we’re doing really well with the underdog mentality.”

The Rebels should be able to harness that same energy and motivation. While they didn’t beat then-undefeated Texas in Austin, losing by just three points on the road is proof enough the Rebels can win a game on a neutral court.

To beat the Longhorns, though, will require a similar level of defensive intensity Ole Miss has shown in two games already. Because if the Rebels keep playing like that, anyone can be beaten.

SEC Tournament Schedule and Results

Wednesday, March 4 – First round

  • Game 1: No. 9 Kentucky 94, No. 16 Arkansas 64
  • Game 2: No. 12 Florida 86, No. 13 Mississippi State 68
  • Game 3: No. 15 Auburn 50, No. 10 Texas A&M 49
  • Game 4: No. 11 Alabama 65, No. 14 Missouri 48

Thursday, March 5 – Second round

  • Game 5: No. 9 Kentucky 76, No. 8 Georgia 61
  • Game 6: No. 5 Oklahoma 82, No. 12 Florida 64
  • Game 7: No. 7 Ole Miss 73, No. 15 Auburn 57
  • Game 8: No. 11 Alabama 76, No. 6 Tennessee 64

Friday, March 6 – Quarterfinals

Saturday, March 7 – Semifinals

  • Game 13: No. 4 LSU vs. No. 1 South Carolina, 3:30 p.m.
  • Game 14: No. 7 Ole Miss vs. No. 3 Texas, 6 p.m.

Sunday, March 8 – Championship

  • Game 15: Game 14 winner vs. Game 13 winner, 2 p.m.

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