Vanderbilt Survives Ole Miss Rally in Gritty SEC Battle
NASHVILLE - Saturday night at Memorial Gym had all the drama you could ask for in a conference clash. Ole Miss came within inches-and a single second-of forcing overtime against No. 18 Vanderbilt, but the Commodores held on for a 71-68 win in a game that was anything but straightforward.
With just one second left on the shot clock and 15 ticks remaining in regulation, a foul on Koren Johnson sent Vanderbilt's AK Okereke to the line. He hit the first to stretch the lead to three but missed the second, giving Ole Miss a sliver of hope-and they nearly made the most of it.
AJ Storr’s three-point attempt clanged off the side of the rim and drifted baseline. Malik Dia grabbed the rebound, spun into a turnaround corner three as the buzzer sounded, and let it fly.
It hit the rim, but the bounce didn’t go Ole Miss’ way. Game over.
“We weren’t at our best and still found a way,” said Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington. “I had a view of Malik’s shot and I thought it was going in.”
So did most of the gym.
A Tale of Two Halves
Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard summed it up best: “The team that makes the last shot is going to win the game.” And in this one, that was Vanderbilt.
But Beard wasn’t down on his group-far from it. He praised his team’s effort, especially considering the uphill battle they faced in the first half.
The Rebels turned the ball over nine times in the opening 20 minutes and didn’t record a single assist. That’s not a typo.
Zero assists. They made just eight field goals before halftime and somehow only trailed 31-23 at the break-a testament to their rebounding effort, which matched Vanderbilt’s 16 boards.
The second half, though? A completely different team showed up.
Ole Miss took care of the ball, committing just two turnovers after halftime and finally finding some rhythm offensively. They tallied six assists and consistently got downhill, attacking the rim and putting pressure on Vanderbilt’s defense.
“We just studied (the first-half turnovers) quickly and a lot of them were just kind of casual plays,” Beard said. “Some were just bad luck.
But I thought we corrected it in the second half. Our No. 1 objective after halftime was to take care of the ball, and we got that done.”
Free Throws and Frustration
While the Rebels cleaned up their offense, they couldn’t quite stop Vanderbilt from cashing in at the free throw line-particularly Okereke, who went 11-for-13 from the stripe. Beard pointed to that as the difference-maker down the stretch.
“We’ll have to study the film and see if we can do a better job avoiding those fouls,” Beard said. “It’s frustrating getting beat when your defense holds serve, but the other team is making free throws.”
And that’s exactly what Vanderbilt did. They didn’t shoot the lights out, but they made the key plays when it mattered. Tyler Tanner led all scorers with 24 points, while Okereke added 17 points and five rebounds-most of his damage coming from the line.
For Ole Miss, Storr and Dia each finished with 16 points. Dia nearly played the hero with that last-second shot. Ilias Kamardine added 14 points and five boards, and Patton Pinkins chipped in nine.
Weather Woes and Schedule Shuffle
This game wasn’t even supposed to be played in Nashville. Originally scheduled for Oxford, the SEC made the call to flip the dates after Winter Storm Fern buried parts of Mississippi, closing the Ole Miss campus through Feb.
- The rematch is now set for March 4 in Oxford.
Beard acknowledged the broader context of the week, noting that the team wanted to give Mississippi fans something to cheer about after a tough stretch.
“We really wanted to win this game tonight, maybe do our small part,” he said. “It didn’t go our way.
Credit Vanderbilt. That’s a really good team.
A team with NCAA Tournament potential.”
Looking Ahead
Ole Miss drops to 11-10 overall and 3-5 in SEC play. But there’s no quit in this group. They’ll stay in Nashville before heading to Knoxville for a Tuesday night showdown with Tennessee.
“There’s zero quit,” Beard said. “To me, college basketball doesn’t really start until February and March. Our backs are against the wall, but if there’s a game on the schedule, we’re going to show up to play.”
That’s been the story of their season-tight games, tough environments, and a team that keeps swinging. Saturday night was no different. They just came up one shot short.