OXFORD | Chris Beard took a long pause, pinched his nose with the index finger and thumb of his right hand and let out a deep breath before opening his eyes and taking questions on Wednesday.
The Ole Miss head coach consistently cliches the SEC as an 18-round fight, and this latest installment took everything the Rebels could muster to outlast Texas, 72-69, at The SJB Pavilion. Ole Miss improved to 16-4 overall and 5-3 in the SEC with No. 1 Auburn next up on Saturday.
Texas fell to 14-6 and 3-4 before a road trip to Baton Rouge. It was Beard's first matchup as a Rebel against his former team.
“The team really needed a win tonight, Captain Obvious,” Beard said. “Our players are putting us in position to win games and I'm happy for them that it paid off.”
There were 14 lead changes, and Ole Miss trailed for more than 20 minutes in total but none of that time was in the final 6:55. Texas tied it on three occasions after that point, but Ole Miss answered all comeback attempts to stay in front and break its three-game losing streak.
The Rebels never led by more than five, and that with just more than three minutes remaining. Ole Miss led by two, breaking the final tie, after a Sean Pedulla basket with a minute left.
After Texas’ Arthur Kaluma missed the back end of a one-and-one (just one of two Texas free throw misses) to keep Ole Miss ahead, both teams traded possessions, and Davon Barnes hit two straight free throws to extend the Rebels’ lead to three points with eight seconds left.
Texas’ Tre Johnson got a decent look from three to tie it, but it didn’t fall. Johnson paced Texas with 22 points.
A week ago, almost to the minute, Barnes missed the front of a one-and-one with 19 seconds left of Ole Miss’ one-point loss to Texas A&M. This time, he calmly drained both for some redemption.
“You get up there in those minutes, and you want to make those free throws,” Beard said. “No shit everyone does, but have you paid the price and put in the time and discipline for the routine to make it happen” I’m really proud of that. He just keeps working. He earned the right in the last four or five days to get back in that situation.”
Ole Miss entered the game No. 21 in the NET, and Texas is No. 32 in the NET. The Rebels get another quad one win if the Longhorns finish the season in the top 30. Ole Miss has four quad one wins. The Rebels continue a three-game homestand with Auburn and NET No. 12 Kentucky.
Padulla led Ole Miss with 19 points including four makes from behind the arc, and Dre Davis, in his return from injury, added 17 points. Jaemyn Brakefield had 18 points and hit six of seven free throws.
The Rebels committed only four turnovers and forced 11. Ole Miss reversed a recent trend of not getting to the line, this time shooting 25 and making 19 of them. Texas hit 12 of 14 from the stripe despite shooting 75 percent as a team on the season.
Ole Miss emphasized driving to the basket and used that effectively to get to the line and counter what had become a major issue with free throw discrepancy in recent games. Ole Miss also played within 28-24 in points in the paint.
“We wanted to be aggressive and to get in the bonus and had some good off-the-ball plays early to get in the bonus in both halves,” Beard said. “Initiate contact and play off two feet. We had a lot of good inside-out basketball. We didn’t shoot a great percentage but took the right shot a lot of the time.”
Texas is 202nd nationally in rebounding but beat the Rebels on the boards, 42-33, including 10 first half offensive rebounds.
Devon Pryor’s dunk with 5:43 left in the first half put Texas up 13 and Ole Miss firmly on the teetering position of a disastrous opening period. It came right after a missed lay-up from Davis and amid a flurry of Texas rebounds.
Padulla, 12 seconds later, connected on a 3-pointer to cut it to 10, and after Johnson hit a couple free throws, Pedulla hit another one from deep. The lead went to nine, and after a Texas basket, Davis buried a three of his own.
Brakefield made four straight free throws over 30 seconds, and Pedulla’s lay-up at the 46-second mark cut the Texas lead to two points – keyed by the 9-0 run that held the Longhorns scoreless for three minutes.
Kaluma’s lay-up put Texas up four at the break, but during arguably the most pivotal first half of the season to date, Ole Miss survived and didn’t waver into a would-be blowout.
Texas out-rebounded Ole Miss 24-15 in the first half but only by one the final 12 minutes before intermission.
Jaylen Murray hit a three out of the break, and Ole Miss took its first lead at the 18:19 mark of the second half. Texas didn’t have a two-possession lead again.
“It was huge tonight,” Pedulla said. “Especially with the way it’s gone, could have won all three, especially late. Mental errors and small mistakes we’re not supposed to be making, but tonight we made the right decisions.”
