Ole Miss Rebels season comes to a close in Sweet 16: what have they achieved so far
ATLANTA —
The No. 6 seed Ole Miss men’s basketball team (24-12, 10-8 SEC) dropped a hard-fought matchup against No. 2 seed Michigan State (30-6, 17-3 BIG 10) 73-70, Friday night at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
Both sides would start strong defensively as 10 total points were scored over the first 4:28 of action. Michigan State would lead 6-4, at the under 16 media timeout.
Sean Pedulla would find his stroke early with eight points and two three-pointers over the first 8:51 of play. Ole Miss jumped out to a 15-10 lead with 11:09 remaining in half number one.
Ole Miss forced five early Michigan State turnovers, generating four steals. The Rebels would stretch their advantage to eight, leading 22-14 with 7:41 left.
Michigan State chipped away, cutting the Rebel lead to three after a 5-0 run over 3:27.
The Rebels would respond with a 7-0 run of their own over 1:15 of action. A triple and lay in from Matthew Murrell followed by a fastbreak bucket from Jaemyn Brakefield pushed the Ole Miss lead to 29-19, with 3:52 to play.
A 6-0 run over 1:05 from the Spartans to close the half cut the Ole Miss lead to 33-31 at the break.
Both team would trade baskets to start the second half of play. A Pedulla steal and layup would push the Ole Miss lead to five at the 16:14 mark. MSU’s Tre Holloman would answer with a lay in of his own making it 42-39, at the under 16 media.
Pedulla would find Davon Barnes for a triple as the Rebels would stretch their lead to nine with 12:15 to go. The Spartans hit four of their next five field goals to make it 50-49, Ole Miss with 7:52 to play.
Michigan State would take their first lead of the game at the 7:50 mark after a pair of free throws from Carson Cooper. Pedulla would respond with his third three-pointer of the game to tie it at 53 with 6:39 to go.
A back-and-forth affair would occur for the next 3:00 of action as playmakers on both sides traded buckets for their teams. A Murrell three would put Ole Miss ahead by one before a slam on the other end by Coen Carr put MSU back in front.
Pedulla would hit another three followed by a Jeremy Fears Jr. bucket to tie the game at 61 with 3:47 left in regulation. The game would be tied for the 10th time before MSU’s Jaden Akins put the Spartans in front 65-63 with 1:27 left.
Out of a Spartan timeout with 53.0 seconds left, Carson Cooper would convert for the Spartans stretching their lead to four with 40 seconds left. Pedulla converted a quick two for Ole Miss on the other end as Ole Miss called timeout with 33.6 on the clock down 67-65.
Michigan State was able to inbound as Akins stepped to the line after an Ole Miss foul and converted two at the charity stripe making it 69-65, Spartans. With 17.7 seconds on the clock, Pedulla would score, making it 69-67 Michigan State with 13.9 seconds remaining.
Out of their final timeout, Michigan State would get the ball inbounded once more forcing a foul. Tre Holloman made a pair of free throws putting the Spartans up 71-67, ultimately icing the contest.
NOTABLES
- Sean Pedulla recorded his third straight 20-point NCAA Tournament game, leading all scorers with 24 points. It marked his 28th game in double-figures on the season and his ninth 20 plus point performance.
- Pedulla also led the Rebels with four assists marking his 17th game leading the team in passing.
- Three Rebels scored in double-figures: Pedulla (24), Matthew Murrell (13) and Malik Dia (11).
- With 70 points scored tonight, this year’s Ole Miss team tied the 2012-13 team for the third most points scored by a team in a single season with 2,779.
- With 13 assists tonight, this year’s team tallied 509 helpers, good for the third most by a team in a single season in program history.
