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

Published

6 months ago

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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

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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Basketball

Ole Miss Basketball Appears in First Look at Expanded NCAA Tournament Field

Published

4 months ago

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May 8, 2026

By

Ole Miss Men's Basketball during the game against Mississippi St. at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Mississippi on January 17, 2026. | Ole Miss Athletics

Most college sports fans saw Thursday’s news that the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are expanding to 76 teams. Eight additional teams will be added to what is currently the First Four, turning it into a 24‑team play‑in stage with 12 games across two days. The winners will join the 52 teams already slotted into the traditional first‑round bracket.

We already talked about what expansion means for both Ole Miss programs, and it’s still way too early to know which teams will actually benefit next season. But you know that won’t stop anyone from trying.

NCAA.com analyst Andy Katz posted his first 76‑team projection Friday morning, based on his initial Power 44 rankings for 2026‑27. Katz or his model must really like what Ole Miss has done this offseason. The Rebels show up at No. 39 in the Power 44 and land as a No. 10 seed in the South quadrant.

Again, it’s early. The last season ended a month ago. Ole Miss shouldn’t start booking hotel rooms in Pittsburgh just yet.

Still, this tells us two things about Ole Miss and the new tournament format.

First, it’s going to be hard for a middle‑of‑the‑pack SEC team to miss the field now. Second, if the bracket had been at 76 teams this past season, the committee would’ve had a real decision to make about the Rebels.

Maybe they get in. Maybe they don’t. Did they deserve a spot? Probably not, and adding eight more at‑large bids doesn’t change that much.

But the future looks better now for Ole Miss.

Andy Katz’s Initial Power 44

1. Duke

2. Florida

3. Michigan

4. Illinois

5. Tennessee

6. UConn

7. Arizona

8. Arkansas

9. Texas

10. Michigan State

11. Vanderbilt

12. Virginia

13. Kansas

14. Houston

15. Louisville

16. Alabama

17. Nebraska

18. Iowa State

19. Purdue

20. USC

21. Gonzaga

22. St. John’s

23. Miami (FL)

24. Indiana

25. Missouri

26. VCU

27. Saint Louis

28. UCLA

29. Ohio State

30. BYU

31. Iowa

32. Texas A&M

33. North Carolina

34. Providence

35. Baylor

36. Wisconsin

37. Auburn

38. Xavier

39. Ole Miss

40. Marquette

41. Texas Tech

42. Kentucky

43. Maryland

44. New Mexico

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Basketball

What NCAA Tournament Expansion Means for Ole Miss Basketball

Published

4 months ago

on

May 7, 2026

By

Ole Miss basketball players celebrate a SEC Tournament win against Alabama on Friday night. | Ole Miss Athletics

Missing the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments is about to get a lot harder.

Multiple outlets reported and the NCAA itself announced Thursday that the committees overseeing both tournaments have officially voted to expand the fields to 76 teams.

None of this should catch anyone off guard. The NCAA started exploring expansion about a year ago, and reports two weeks ago made it clear the process was in its final stages. Now it’s done. The new format will debut in 2027.

According to ESPN, top NCAA officials met with the tournament’s media partners to finalize the updated contracts before the vote. The committees required signed agreements before making anything official, and once those were in place, expansion moved forward.

The biggest change comes at the front end of the tournament. Eight additional teams will be added to what is currently the First Four. That round will grow into a 24‑team play‑in stage with 12 games spread across two days. The winners will join the 52 teams already slotted into the traditional first‑round bracket.

The NCAA is expected to rebrand the First Four language, but the structure stays familiar. The opening round will still include both automatic qualifiers and at‑large teams. All 16 seeds and half of the 15 seeds will make up half of the 24‑team group. The other half will come from the lowest‑seeded at‑large teams, including a mix of 11 and 12 seeds.

It’s a significant shift, but the goal is simple: more teams, more access, and fewer seasons ending on Selection Sunday with nothing to show for it.

What This Means for Ole Miss

On the women’s side, this doesn’t move the needle much. Yolett McPhee‑McCuin has raised the bar to the point where simply making the tournament isn’t the goal anymore.

Ole Miss wants to host a NCAA Regional for the first time in program history, and that standard doesn’t change with a bigger field.

The men’s side is a little different. It depends on the year. Two seasons ago, expansion wouldn’t have mattered. This past season, it would’ve changed everything.

Ole Miss finished 15-20 and sat at No. 80 in the NET. In a 76‑team bracket, that puts you on the bubble, and one more win in the SEC Tournament probably gets the Rebels into the field.

For programs in a league as deep as the SEC, the extra spots matter. The women’s side won’t feel much of a shift, but the men’s side absolutely will. Bubble teams in this conference won’t be living on the same razor’s edge anymore.

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Basketball

Ole Miss Basketball Transfer Portal Picture Comes Into Focus

Published

4 months ago

on

May 5, 2026

By

Ole Miss coach Chris Beard

It’s been two weeks since the transfer portal window closed, and after a slow start, Ole Miss is finally nearing the end of its roster‑building phase.

The Rebels have added seven transfers, plus TJ Clark who committed back in December. Four‑star recruits Jaron Saulsberry, Yohance Connor and Daniel Patton are also on the way this summer.

Those 10 newcomers will join Ilias Kamardine and Patton Pinkins, the only returning Rebels, to form the foundation of next year’s roster.

The question is whether that’s enough, and whether Chris Beard is actually done adding.

The honest answer is maybe and probably not.

Nobody knows yet if this group will be better or worse than what Ole Miss just put on the floor.

There’s no headline addition, but that doesn’t mean the roster can’t mesh, grow together and avoid needing a miracle run in March.

There’s also the chance it looks like last season, when the pieces never fully clicked.

Given the current guard‑heavy build, it feels likely Beard will look for more frontcourt help. Stefan Cicic gives Ole Miss a true 7‑footer and Santiago Trouet adds more size, but the Rebels could still use another proven interior presence.

One name to watch is former Florida Atlantic forward Devin Williams, who has reportedly met with Ole Miss over Zoom and is visiting Arizona this week. Williams finished fifth nationally in blocks last season at 2.58 per game, which would give Beard a real defensive anchor inside.

In the end, Ole Miss won’t know what this roster really is until the group gets on the floor together, but the picture is at least starting to take shape.

Beard has rebuilt almost the entire program for the second straight offseason, and there’s still room for one or two more pieces to round it out.

Whether this version ends up being better, worse, or simply different from last year’s team is impossible to know in May, but the next additions will tell us plenty about how the Rebels plan to finish the job.

Ole Miss Basketball Transfer Portal Tracker

Men

Outgoing

Incoming

  • Christian Brown, F, 6-8, Fr. (James Madison)
  • Stefan Cicic, C, 7-0, Fr. (Pepperdine)
  • Adam Clark, G, 5-10, Jr. (Seton Hall)
  • TJ Clark, G, 6-3 (Hermosillo)
  • Dasear Haskins, G, 6-8, So. (St. Joseph’s)
  • ND Okafor, F, 6-7, Jr. (Washington State)
  • Roman Siulepa, F, 6-6, Fr. (Pittsburgh)
  • Santiago Trouet, F, 6-10, Jr. (Arizona State)

Women

Outgoing

  • J’Adore Young, 6-4, C, Soph.
  • Sira Thinenou, 6-1, F, Soph.
  • Tianna Thompson, 5-10, G, Soph. (Baylor)

Incoming

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