For the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, Ole Miss is heading to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.
After overwhelming No. 3 seed Iowa State (25-10) midway through the first half and carrying the momentum throughout the majority of the final 20 minutes of action, the No. 6 seed Rebels (24-11) booked a ticket to Atlanta with a 91-78 victory.
With 5:40 left to go in Sunday night’s matchup in Fiserv Forum, Ole Miss led Iowa State 78-52. The Rebels appeared to be cruising to a seamless routing of their higher-seeded foe, but the tough Cyclone squad came to life late and went on a major run to make things interesting.
Ole Miss’ advantage had been whittled down to 10 points with 1:20 remaining in regulation. With Thursday’s nailbiter against North Carolina in mind, a shocking wave of fearful reminiscence rushed through the minds of nervous Rebel fans. However, the red and blue held the line, garnering a collective sigh of relief in Oxford and abroad.
Not only was the win historic, as it sealed Ole Miss’ second-ever Sweet 16 appearance, but it was also a sweet dose of revenge. The last time the Rebels and Cyclones squared off prior to the March Madness outing was in January 2019. Iowa State, featuring now-NBA talents Tyrese Haliburton and Talen Horton-Tucker, bested Ole Miss 87-73 in the SJB Pavilion. But the Rebels certainly got the latest laugh.
Now, second-year Rebel frontman Chris Beard will have the chance to lead Ole Miss to the program’s first-ever Elite Eight appearance.
Game Recap
Iowa State guard Nate Heise struck first blood, but Ole Miss’ Sean Pedulla quickly countered. A successful layup and three-pointer by the Virginia Tech transfer put the Rebels up 5-4 in the first couple of minutes.
Then Iowa State, boasting a major size advantage, began to flex its muscles. Exploiting a weakness in the Rebels’ rebounding abilities, the Cyclones used the offensive glass to follow up missed shots with second-chance looks. A three from Curtis Jones followed by a triple from Heise boosted Iowa State to a 15-8 advantage with 14:27 on the clock.
Ole Miss, appearing to be getting left in the dust by its Big 12 opponent, countered the Cyclone run dominantly. Taking advantage of an athleticism advantage, the Rebels dictated the pace of the game and made Iowa State run the floor with them.
This led to a 23-2 Ole Miss run over the next seven minutes. In that time span, Rebel center Malik Dia heated up from deep, Pedulla continued to knock down the long ball, and Jaemyn Brakefield got a slice of the three-point scoring pie. With 7:22 left in the first half, the script had completely flipped in Milwaukee.
Fueled by explosive shooting percentages, Ole Miss led by as many as 13, but ultimately went to the midway intermission with an 11-point buffer, 40-29.
Iowa State’s first two shots of the second half were money and the Cyclones were within single digits on the scoreboard with 19 minutes left to work with. A timely three-ball by veteran Ole Miss guard Matthew Murrell put the Rebels ahead by double figures once more.
Back-to-back triples for Ole Miss, one by Pedulla and the other by Brakefield, gave the Rebels a 17-point lead with 16:03 on the clock, ending any form of momentum Iowa State had. A shot from behind the arc by Murrell turned the lead into a 21-point buffer and Ole Miss was cooking with peanut oil as the Cyclones had no answer defensively.
A lengthy stint without a field goal stymied Iowa State’s ability to claw back into the contest, though T.J. Otzelberger’s team was able to find supplemental scoring at the charity stripe to remain within some semblance of striking distance. Nonetheless, Ole Miss managed to maintain its roughly 20-point buffer over the next seven minutes.
Rebel guard Jaylen Murray buried a triple at the eight-minute mark, giving Ole Miss a 73-48 lead. Jones followed it up with a neutralizing three as Iowa State was not ready to surrender. But a countering triple by Murrell made the talented Cyclone guard’s attempt futile.
But at that point, Iowa State had begun to figure things out offensively — and the team pounced. A 26-point deficit with 5:40 left to climb out of the steep hole was not enough to intimidate the Cyclones. Over the next four minutes, Iowa State was borderline unstoppable.
Jones, a First-Team All-Big 12 player, and Heise led a 23-7 run to put the Cyclones back into the mix with just over a minute left until the buzzer. Iowa State, trailing by a manageable 10 points, smelled an opportunity to amass a historic comeback.
A deep inbound pass to Murrell almost posed an imminent disaster for Ole Miss as the fifth-year guard missed an open layup. Nonetheless, he grabbed the offensive board and landed the putback. An ensuing steal and dunk by Brakefield put things out of reach. Ole Miss held on and walked away a 91-78 victor.
Impact Players
Sean Pedulla led Ole Miss’ high-scoring effort with 20 points and eight assists. Jaemyn Brakefield, who was a perfect 5-5 at the charity stripe, was a close runner-up with 19 points. Malik Dia, after having a monstrous first half, finished the game with 18 points and eight rebounds. Matthew Murrell, who was 3-3 from behind the arc, had 15 points.
In what was a mostly daunting night for Iowa State offensively, Curtis Jones was a bright light with a game-best 26 points. Joshua Jefferson accounted for 16 points and eight rebounds. Nate Heise scored 13 points and was a perfect 3-3 from deep.
Deciding Factor
Building a 26-point lead deep into the second half was certainly the armor that protected Ole Miss from suffering a heartbreaking collapse in the Round of 32 matchup. A near-60% shooting performance bolstered that effort. Ole Miss was red-hot from the floor and held Iowa State to a below 50% shooting clip.
Ole Miss also won the turnover battle, giving the ball away seven fewer times than its counterpart. The Rebels had a staggering 20-7 advantage from points off of turnovers.
A common theme this season has been the Rebels losing the rebounding battle, and while that rang true on Sunday, the disparity was not enough to give Iowa State a notable advantage. The Cyclones hauled in five more boards. However, Ole Miss had more of an impact down low with two more points in the paint than Iowa State.
Next Up
The road to the national championship has officially been reduced to 16 teams — and Ole Miss is one of them. The next foe in line for the Rebels is No. 2 seed Michigan State. The two will face off on Friday in State Farm Arena with the contest set to begin at 6:09 p.m. CT. CBS and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations will be airing the game.
The last time the Rebels made it to the Sweet 16, a talented Rod Barnes-led Ole Miss squad was knocked out of the Big Dance by Arizona.
