AJ Storr scored 17 points, Ilias Kamardine had 14 of his 16 points in the second half and 15th-seeded Ole Miss still has never trailed in the Southeastern Conference tournament after an 80-79 victory over second-seeded Alabama in the quarterfinals in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday.
Malik Dia added 14 points and Patton Pinkins added 13 for the Rebels (15-19), who saw a 13-point lead with 13 minutes remaining dwindle to one before holding off the Crimson Tide.
It was the Rebels’ second consecutive close call, as they lost all but two points of a 23-point lead in a 76-72 second-round win over Georgia.
Labaron Philon Jr. scored 28 points and made five 3-pointers, Aden Holloway scored 18 and Aiden Sherrell added 14 for the No. 15 Crimson Tide (23-9), who had won nine of 10.
Kamardine made two big baskets down the stretch to secure the Rebels’ spot in the semifinals, where they will play the winner of the Arkansas-Oklahoma game.
The Rebels, who led by as many as 14 in the first half, were up 13 on Eduardo Klafke’s 3-pointer with 13:19 remaining in the game before the Crimson Tide closed.
The Tide narrowed the score to 71-68 on Amari Allen’s jumper with 6:15 left, before Kamardine’s forced 3-pointer as the shot clock expired gave the Rebels a 78-71 lead with 3:47 left.
Sherrell’s dunk brought Alabama within 78-75, and Kamardine answered with a jumper with 1:08 left to restore the Rebels’ lead to five.
Taylor Bol Bowen’s layup made it 80-77, and Philon sank two free throws with 13.4 seconds remaining after a Kamardine miss, bringing the Tide within one.
Klafke missed the front end of a one-and-one with 9.4 seconds remaining, and Alabama secured the rebound before driving the lane, where James Scott blocked Sherrell’s layup attempt.
Scott was fouled and missed a free throw with five-tenths of a second left, but Alabama could not get off a shot before time expired.
The Rebels had lost 12 of 13 to close the regular season, and their only path to the NCAA Tournament is to win the SEC tourney for the first time since 2013.
Alabama shot 40.6% from the field and 31.0% on 3-point attempts against an Ole Miss defense that held Texas to 35.2% shooting and Georgia to 36.4%.
The Rebels have held double-digit leads in each of their three tournament wins. They avenged a 93-74 regular-season loss to the Crimson Tide on Feb.11.
–Field Level Media
