OXFORD – Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard knows his locker room is in pain. And, in a game he felt the No. 16 Rebels had every chance to win, it was Texas A&M that left SJB Pavilion on Wednesday night experiencing the thrill of victory.
After trailing by as many as 11 points in the second half, Aggies guard Manny Obaseki hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 13 seconds to play, and the Rebels were unable to answer on the other end as the No. 13 Aggies stunned Ole Miss 63-62. It’s the Rebels’ (15-4, 4-2 SEC) second straight loss. Ole Miss shot just four free throws in the game.
“A tough one tonight. We have a hurt locker room right now. (I) thought we did everything we needed to do to win the game,” Beard said. “ … If you coach long enough or play long enough, you’re a part of these games, on the good side or the bad side. So, unfortunately for us tonight, lots of lessons to be learned.”
Ole Miss led by eight with two minutes remaining but committed four turnovers over the final four minutes of the game. Ole Miss did not trail in the game until Obaseki’s game winner. Texas A&M outscored the Rebels 11-2 over the final 3:49, a span where Ole Miss did not hit a field goal.
Junior forward Malik Dia and senior guard Sean Pedulla scored 10 points and eight points in the second half for the Rebels, respectively. Obaseki scored all 12 of his points in the second half for the Aggies (15-4, 4-2).
“(I) don’t want to take away from the first 37, 36 1/2 minutes of the game. We put ourselves in a position to beat what I think’s one of the best teams in college basketball,” Beard said. “We just didn’t finish the game like you have to finish the game.”
Neither team got itself into a particularly good offensive flow early, starting a combined 3 for 13 from the field. Ole Miss used a 14-3 run to take a 21-10 lead with 9:25 left in the first, and, despite missing seven of its last eight shots of the half, led by seven at halftime. The Rebels hit seven 3-pointers in the first, including three from senior guard Jaylen Murray. The Aggies shot 33% from the floor in the half.
Dia scored the first eight points of the second for the Rebels, who started the half just 4 of 13 but upped their lead to 11. The Aggies cut the lead down to a single point nine minutes into the half, but eight points from Pedulla over the ensuing three minutes put Ole Miss back up five with just over seven minutes to play.
With the lead at five once again with less than four minutes to play, a crafty layup and-one from senior forward Jaemyn Brakefield created a bit of breathing room, though the Aggies cut the lead back down to two with 21 seconds to play. Senior guard Davon Barnes missed a free throw on the next possession, which led to Obaseki’s shot.
The Rebels pushed the ball up the floor, and Brakefield’s floater off the backboard missed with five seconds to play. Ole Miss was unable to get another shot off cleanly.
“I’ve always been a coach that trusts players. And so a lot of those things, we had the right guy with the ball, and we just didn’t make the play tonight,” Beard said. “So, again, nobody hurts more than us. The game is basically mathematically over if we just make some routine plays. Give Texas A&M credit, they were the reason that we couldn’t make some of those routine plays.”
Ole Miss plays at No. 22 Missouri Saturday at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
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