The regular season has finally come to an end for an Ole Miss basketball team poised to make its first NCAA Tournament appearance in six years. But the finale ahead of the postseason is one head coach Chris Beard and company will look to flush.
In what was a hard-fought battle for a little over a half on Saturday, Ole Miss (21-10, 10-8 SEC) was bested by No. 5 Florida (27-4, 14-4 SEC) 90-71. The Rebels battled valiantly until a three-point deficit turned into a 17-point advantage for the home Gators in a span of three minutes early in the second half. From there, the contest belonged to Florida frontman Todd Golden and his cornucopia of scorers.
Fortunately for Ole Miss, there is plenty of basketball left to play as the team is not dependent on outside factors to be featured in this year’s NCAA Tournament. But before March Madness begins, the Rebels will compete in the SEC Tournament as a No. 8 seed.
Ole Miss currently sits at No. 27 in the NCAA NET rankings and is projected to be in the No. 7-9 seed range in the Big Dance. The Rebels’ most recent opponent, Florida, is the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament and is expected to be a No. 1 seed when brackets are filled out across the country.
Game Recap
A slow start to the matchup found Ole Miss up 5-3 with 17:29 on the clock courtesy of a Malik Dia triple. Florida was sloppy with the ball and routinely coughed it up, gift-wrapping the Rebels to strike. Nonetheless, those invitations were rejected by the visitors as a rough first-half shooting performance reared its head.
A Sean Pedulla jumper knotted things up 7-7 with just under 15 minutes left in the half. On Florida’s next offensive drive, Will Richard connected on a triple to give the Gators the lead — one they would not relinquish. The Gators continued to be loose with the ball, and while Ole Miss failed to find any offensive consistency to punish Florida for the miscues, the game was well within reach. For every Florida bucket, Ole Miss seemed to have an answer.
Urban Klavzar hit a three, and Alex Condon was good from down low to put the Gators up by six until a triple by Pedulla landed the Rebels within one score with just over five minutes left until the intermission.
The pendulum then began to favor the home team. Walter Clayton, Jr., one of the SEC’s top guards, was money on back-to-back attempts from deep to give Florida a 10-point lead, the largest of the contest, with halftime approaching. Pedulla landed a countering three to keep Ole Miss in close contention. Mississippi native Alijah Martin knocked down a shot from behind the arc to give Florida a 38-31 advantage at the intermission.
In the first half, Ole Miss forced the Gators to turn the ball over a staggering nine times, which kept them within arms reach on the scoreboard despite shooting under 31% from the floor.
A Pedulla triple and a deep shot from Matthew Murrell steered momentum in the Rebels’ direction at the start of the second half. With 19:04 on the clock, Ole Miss trailed 40-37. That changed on a whim.
Clayton, with a highlight-reel layup and a triple, launched a 14-0 run by Florida to extend the Gators’ buffer to 54-37 in three short minutes. From there, Ole Miss shined at times, specifically as Pedulla fought to will his team back into contention. Those efforts proved futile due to Clayton becoming unconscious from deep. A pair of consecutive triples from the Gator guard built an 18-point Florida lead at the 12:25 mark.
Beard later seemingly waved the white flag, allowing bench players Robert Cowherd and John Bol to earn a higher volume of minutes than is typical while simultaneously giving some of his key contributors a breather.
A three-pointer by Thomas Haugh with 3:07 on the clock was the ultimate nail in the coffin. The Gators cruised to a 90-71 victory on their senior day.
Impact Players
Walter Clayton, Jr. was a force in the weekend showdown, displaying a borderline unstoppable shot. The veteran guard logged 23 points and eight assists. He had 15 points from three-point range. Alex Condon punished the Rebels down low, amassing 17 points and 15 boards. Summit native Alijah Martin shined against the SEC foe in his home state with 13 points.
Ole Miss guard Sean Pedulla carried the load for his team, scoring 22 points. Jaylen Murray had success on both ends of the floor, with 12 points and four steals. Rebel big man Malik Dia, who played sparingly in the contest, had nine points and eight boards.
Deciding Factor
The Gators’ 14-0 run early in the second half was the ultimate catalyst that fueled the home team to victory. However, there were plenty of other metrics that highlighted Florida’s performance.
Florida converted on 49% of its shots compared to Ole Miss’ 33% showing. The home team was dominant on the glass, securing 12 more boards in the physical contest. Pressure was applied down low by the Gators, who had 10 more points in the paint than the Rebels. All game, Ole Miss struggled with Florida’s size advantage.
Ole Miss won the turnover battle 14-9 and had six more points off of giveaways than Florida. The Rebels were also more efficient at the charity stripe.
Next Up
Ole Miss will enjoy a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament. The Rebels will face the winner of Wednesday’s battle between No. 9 seed Arkansas and No. 16 seed South Carolina on Thursday at noon. The game will be aired on the SEC Network and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.