Tim Elko said it best ahead of the Ole Miss baseball team’s 2022 national championship run, “Don’t let the Rebels get hot.” That saying has transcended sports boundaries and has seeped into football — and now men’s basketball, as Chris Beard and company continue a historic SEC Tournament run.
Ole Miss (15-19), the No. 15 seed, held on for dear life to earn an 80-79 win over No. 2 seed Alabama (23-8) in the quarterfinals on Friday night. The Rebels are now the lowest-seeded team to ever make it to the tournament’s semifinals, and Ole Miss has yet to trail in any of its matchups since the postseason began.
AJ Storr was one of four players in double digits for the red and blue, leading the team’s effort with 17 points on a 50% clip from the field. Ilias Kamardine scored 16 points and was especially effective in crunch time, while Malik Dia had 14 points and Patton Pinkins logged 13 points. James Scott had a team-best 10 rebounds.
Alabama was led by an explosive performance by star guard Labaron Philon, who had a game-high 28 points, 15 of which were from behind the arc. Aden Holloway was also masterful, despite the loss, scoring 18 points and connecting on 50% of his shots.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Dia got Ole Miss up 6-0 in the first minute of action. The Rebels continued to score consistently as Alabama started to heat up from deep, scoring 12 of its first 14 points off of 3-point shots. At the 13:14 mark, the game was tied 16-16. Ole Miss then went on a 9-0 run to build a commanding lead.
The Rebels stepped on the gas with Storr hitting a shot down low to put the underdogs up 41-27 with 5:05 on the first half clock. The Crimson Tide stormed back, cutting the deficit to five points over the next four minutes. Ole Miss led 47-41 at halftime.
Travis Perry knocked down a 3-pointer in the first 13 seconds of the second half to rebuild the Rebels’ lead. Philon had an immediate answer from deep to upend that effort, and Alabama began to threaten. Aidan Sherrell hit a pair of shots, and Noah Williamson connected on two free throws for the Crimson Tide to trail 56-50 at the 16:36 mark.
Ole Miss rebutted with an effective counterpunch. Reserve guard Eduardo Klafke hit a pair of 3-pointers, with a Dia free throw in between, to go up 63-50 with 13:19 remaining in regulation. Things quickly took a turn for Ole Miss, as Alabama, which boasts the nation’s top scoring offense, caught lightning in a bottle. In just four minutes, the Rebels’ lead was whittled down to four points.
Kamardine hit a triple at the 7:36 mark to give Ole Miss seven points’ worth of breathing room. But the Crimson Tide were unfazed, getting within three points on the scoreboard less than a minute later. The French Ole Miss guard, Kamardine, willed his team down the stretch, scoring nine of the Rebels’ last 11 points. His last bucket was a jumper in the paint that gave Ole Miss an 80-75 lead with 1:08 on the clock.
A dramatic ending then unfolded. Alabama’s Taylor Bol Bowen made a driving layup to make it a one-score game with 52 seconds left. A missed Kamardine jumper later on forced the Rebels to foul to keep the Crimson Tide from hitting a game-tying 3-pointer. Philon, when sent to the line, made both of his free shots. 13 seconds remained, and Ole Miss led by a point.
Further chaos ensued when Klafke missed the front-end of a one-and-one, leaving the door open for Alabama to hit a game-winner with nine seconds on the clock. The Crimson Tide got to the basket, but a Sherrell layup was blocked by Scott. The Ole Miss big man was promptly fouled, then missed the front-end of his one-and-one at the stripe. Alabama, with less than a second left in the game, could not get a good look at the buzzer.
“It was a tough season for us, and we want to stay alive. We have to keep pushing. We don’t want to stop. We want to keep playing,” Kamardine said after the win. “It was really cool to play like that. Let’s keep winning.”
Efficient shooting played to Ole Miss’ advantage in the matchup. The Rebels were 46% from the field, compared to Alabama’s 41% shooting clip. Ole Miss was much more efficient from deep, making 8-19 3-point shots, while the Crimson Tide was 9-29 from behind the arc. The Rebels also won the rebounding battle, grabbing six more boards than their foe.
Ole Miss will continue its Cinderella run in the SEC Tournament on Saturday versus No. 3 seed Arkansas at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will air on ESPN and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations. Ole Miss lost to the Razorbacks earlier in the season.
