NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The second round of the 2025 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament began with a thrilling matchup that came down to the buzzer between 9-seed Arkansas and 8-seed Ole Miss on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
Sean Pedulla, who ended with 10 points on the day, was the hero for the Rebels’ after draining a 3-point basket with 1.3 second sleft on the clock to claim the 83-80 win over the Razorbacks.
Arkansas was coming off a opening-round thriller of its own over 16-seed South Carolina, 72-68, that advanced them to face Chris Beard and the mighty Rebels, who received a first-round bye.
Ole Miss, coming off a epic win vs. 4-seed Tennessee that ended the regular season, brought that mometum to Bridgestone Arena Thursday. It was on full display right away as leading scorer Malik Dia (19 points, eight rebounds) sparked the Rebels to a 9-0 run, their longest game-opening run this season, at the outset.
Leading Arkansas scorer Jonas Aidoo, who dropped 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds before fouling out late in the game, finally got Arkansas on the board three minutes into the game with a turnaround jumper.
The Razorbacks trailed until a 8-0 run, sparked by Aidoo, gave Arkansas their only lead of the half. After that, it was all about the Rebels who never let off the gas pedal, creating a lead that topped out at 15 points.
Ole Mss led Arkansas, 42-34, going into halftime.
The Rebels, who lead the SEC with a +5.5 turnover ratio, forced seven Razorback turnovers that translated into nine points, while only giving up four of their own in the first half. They also utilized the paint, outscoring Arkansas, 20-12.
But the seasoned John Calipari, who came in this game with 25 SEC Tournament wins, knew exactly what to say at halftime to hype up his Hogs.
Arkansas slowly began to chip away at Ole Miss’ lead with two different 5-0 runs led by Aidoo and Trevon Brazile, cutting down the lead to one. Brazile gave the Razorbacks their first lead of the second half with a 3-point basket.
That lead continued to rise to seven points until Beard called a 30-second timeout to bring together his Rebels, which was exactly what they needed.
With 7:35 left in the game, Matthew Murrell led a 8-0 run to put the Rebels back into contention.
The final minute of the game had everyone on the edge of their seats.
Up by one, DJ Wagner swooshed in a jumper to extend Arkansas’ lead by three, 80-77, but Dre Davis came down the court to hit a layup and-one to tie it up for the Rebels.
A foul by Dia sent Arkansas’ Trevon Brazile to the free-throw line with seven seconds left, but Brazile missed both to keep the game tied, 80-80.
Pedulla then hit the 3-point game winner 1.3 seconds remaining on the clock to clinch a Rebels’ victory. Remarkably, Pedulla had missed all six of his 3-point attempts in the game prior to draining the long game-winner.
Up Next
Ole Miss advances to the SEC Tournament quarterfinals for the first time since 2021 and will face 1-seed Auburn on Friday at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Arkansas is eliminated from the 2025 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament and will await to hear of its postseason fate.
Information from SEC Sports is included in this story.
