Rebels hold on for win against Gamecocks
OXFORD - Any shot Ole Miss has at reaching the NCAA Tournament essentially comes down to this: winning the SEC Tournament.
It's a long shot at best, but the Rebels put themselves in better position for a deep run Saturday.
Ole Miss outlasted South Carolina, 7570, at The Pavilion to earn the sixth seed in the upcoming conference tournament.
The Rebels (19-12, 10-8 SEC) will face the winner of the Auburn/Missouri matchup during the late Thursday night game. Ole Miss is 4-0 against those two programs this season, but each win has been relatively close.
In order to reach that position, the Rebels had to hold off a late scare from the Gamecocks (22-9, 12-6).
Ole Miss was sharp offensively in the first half and early in the second half, which allowed it to build a 21-point lead, 53-32, after a Sebastian Saiz jumper with 15:47 remaining.
Then all those shots that were falling in the first half and early in the second half started to miss their mark.The Rebels went eight minutes and seven seconds without a made field goal, which allowed the Gamecocks to trim the lead to four, 60-56.
Cullen Neal gave the Rebels some momentum with a 3, then Saiz followed up with a bucket in the post to put Ole Miss back in control.
Saiz played his best game in the past few weeks in his final regular season home game. He finished with 21 points and 15 boards and had a clutch bucket with 55 seconds left to put Ole Miss ahead six, 73-67. Freshman Breein Tyree, who struggled a bit in the second half, finished with 19 points.
Terence Davis fouled out with 13:53 left in the game after he picked up his fourth foul and then was called for a technical, which led to his disqualification. Ole Miss was also without Deandre Burnett, who was nursing an injury.
Neal came up with some timely 3s and finished with 11 points. Justas Furmanavicius helped close the game with some late free throws and scored 12 points.
South Carolina received 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists from Sindarius Thornwell, who scored 14 points in the second half to lead the late push. The Gamecocks shot just 35.9 percent as a team.
The Rebels led by 11 at the break and shot 57.1 percent from the field .