No. 15-seeded Ole Miss defeats No. 10-seeded Texas Longhorns 76-66 in the first round of the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday night in Nashville.
Ole Miss (13-19, 4-14 SEC) jumped out to a 5-0 run from the opening tip and never looked back.
The Rebels were led by Malik Dia with 23 points; his teammates AJ Storr with 18 points, Illias Kamardine with 16 points, and James Scott with 10 points.
“I’m super appreciative of our players continuing to fight,” coach Chris Beard said.
Ole Miss took an 11-point lead at 41-30 into the locker room at halftime.
Texas (18-14, 9-9 SEC) was led on the floor by Dailyn Swain with 22 points. His teammates Jordan Pope and Matas Vokietaitis added 16 and 10 points, respectively.
The Longhorns were able to cut the Ole Miss lead down to a three-point game at 66-63 with 3:37 remaining in the second half.
Ole Miss held Texas to shoot 35 percent from the field in the game, and made the Longhorns turn the ball over 13 times, and got 13 points off of turnovers. The Rebels didn’t turn the ball over three times and didn’t allow any points off turnovers.
“It’s attention to detail we have been preparing nonstop for three or four days,” Dia said. “It’s just preparation, and I think coach Beard is the best at preparation in the country.”
Texas went 7-for-20 from beyond the arc for 35 percent, and Ole Miss went 1-for-10 from downtown. The Longhorns were 12-of-15 from the free-throw line in the second half and 21-of-25 in the game.
Ole Miss returns to action on Thursday in the second round of the SEC Tournament as they take on the No. 7-seeded Georgia Bulldogs. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and can be seen on the SEC Network.
