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3 takeaways from Ole Miss’s thrilling SEC Tournament win over Arkansas
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Game 5 of the SEC Tournament provided the most exciting outcome yet. Ole Miss defeated Arkansas on a late 3-pointer from Sean Pedulla, overcoming a late rally from a thin Razorback squad that managed to take a late lead.
Here are 3 quick takeaways from Thursday’s instant classic:
The Madness shows up to Nashville
Sean Pedulla gave the SEC Tournament its first moment of March Madness this year. Ole Miss trailed by 3 with 30 seconds to go, but tied it up at the 20-second mark. Pedulla then made the 3-pointer that Rebels fans will celebrate for a good while.
Before the winning bucket, it wasn’t Pedulla’s day. He was just 4-of-12 from the field in the game and had gone 0-for-6 from 3-point territory before the game-winner.
The Rebels will need Pedulla to be hot against top-seed Auburn.
No quit from the Razorbacks
Ole Miss notched its largest lead of the game, 42-27, with 1:25 left in the 1st half. Few would have been surprised if the Razorbacks faded at that point.
By all indications, the Hogs had already secured their spot in the NCAA Tournament. Instead of fading, they did the opposite.
The Hogs went on a 7-0 run to close out the half, making it 42-34 at the break. Arkansas carried that momentum into the 2nd half. The Razorbacks only led for 6:20 of game time, but that included a late lead in the final 2 minutes.
Calipari only used 7 players on Thursday, and that’s with just 8 minutes from Zvonimir Ivisic.
Sometimes it just means more than seeding and rest
It’s easy for conference tournament storylines to be dominated by the NCAA Tournament. And in the opening round of the SEC Tournament, lots of interest centered around bracketology.
Arkansas secured its Big Dance status by holding on against South Carolina. Texas helped its cause by taking care of business against Vanderbilt. Oklahoma can breathe easier after defeating Georgia.
Heading into the SEC tourney, there was also the storyline of whether the conference’s potential national championship contenders wanted the grind of playing multiple SEC games or if they would prefer an early exit and rest up for the NCAA Tournament.
Arkansas and Ole Miss reminded us all that before the Big Dance, we’re in for some great basketball at the SEC Tournament, as these teams are in Nashville to hoist the trophy.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
