NASHVILLE — Sean Pedulla wasn’t having his best game.

The Ole Miss guard had missed four of his first 11 shots, including all six attempts from behind the 3-point line.

However, with the game tied and overtime looming, Pedulla knocked down the only shot from Thursday anyone will remember.

Pedulla’s 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left gave Ole Miss an 83-80 win over Arkansas in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville.

“Shooters keep shooting, I guess is the mindset,” Pedulla said. “At that point of the game, it’s March and you have to make a play. My mindset was get off the best shot possible. It was a transition 3. …I was just fortunate it dropped.”

Pedulla said he knew he had been cold from deep but he said he wasn’t hesitant to fire up another.

“I’ve shot that shot countless times in my life,” Pedulla said. “I’ve put the work in, basically, so even though I’m 0-for-6, I’m a confident player. I shoot confidently and that’s what was required tonight. Again, I’m just fortunate the last one dropped.”

Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said Pedulla is one of several players on the Rebels’ roster with the “short-term memory” required to rise up in those situations.

“It’s another reason I think we have a chance to be a factor this month,” Beard said. “Tonight is a perfect example. We get five guys in double-figure scoring. That was the design of this team. All these guys checked their ego in the recruiting process. They knew what they were signing up for here. We never talk about leading scorer. We never talk about shots per game. Sean is one of those guys who has the courage. He wants the ball in those moments.”

Arkansas’s Johnell Davis attempted to match Pedulla’s heroics but his shot from half-court bounced off the front of the rim.

Ole Miss (22-10) will face Auburn (29-4) Friday at noon in the first of four SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

At times in the second half, it looked like it might be Arkansas (20-13) that would get a shot at the Tigers.

The Razorbacks overcame a 15-point deficit and led by as many as eight points in the second half.

“We consider this a great win, maybe one of the best of the season,” Beard said. “Arkansas had won six of their last seven, so to me, this was a second-weekend type of game. That’s a talented team.”

Arkansas took its first lead with 12:13 left on Trevon Brazile’s 3-pointer. From there, basically until Pedulla’s game-winner, drama was high in Nashville.

Arkansas led by as many as eight points inside the final 10 minutes, but Ole Miss fought back to lead by six points on Matthew Murrell’s jumper with 3:48 left

The Razorbacks were resilient, however. Brazile hit a 3-pointer to pull the Hogs within 75-72. Eventually, free throws from Karter Knox gave Arkansas a 78-77 lead with 1:23 left. DJ Wagner Jr.’s drive pushed that lead to 80-77.

Ole Miss’ Dre Davis answered with a drive and a free throw with 20.7 seconds left to tie the game at 80-80.

Brazile got a trip to the free throw line on a controversial call underneath the Arkansas basket, but he missed both attempts, setting up Pedulla’s heroics.

Malik Dia led Ole Miss with 19 points and eight rebounds. JuJu Murray finished with 17 points and five assists. Murrell had 12 points. Davon Barnes added 11 and Pedulla finished with 10.

Jonas Aidoo led Arkansas with 17 points and eight rebounds. Brazile finished with 15 points and 11 boards. Billy Richmond III also had 15 points for the Razorbacks. Knox added 14 and Johnell Davis finished with 10.

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