Ole Miss Basketball's Historic SEC Tournament Run Ends in 93-90 OT Loss to Arkansas

Chris Beard and Co. fall in overtime to the Razorbacks, historic SEC Tournament run comes to an end in Nashville.

Mar 14, 2026; Nashville, TN, USA; Mississippi Rebels guard Ilias Kamardine (6) brings the ball up court against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the second half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A last-second bucket by AJ Storr helped force an extra five minutes of action, following a late comeback. However, the Ole Miss men's basketball team would ultimately have their memorable run at the 2026 SEC Tournament come to an end in overtime, as they fell 93-90 to No. 17 Arkansas in the semifinal round on Saturday in Bridgestone Arena.

With 43 seconds left in overtime, Ole Miss trailed 91-88 after a driving layup by Arkansas's Darius Acuff Jr. Ole Miss then turned it over with 27 seconds left, resulting in a timeout called by Ole Miss.

The Rebels would foul Arkansas with 19 seconds to go, sending Trevon Brazile to the line, where he missed both free throws, giving way to AJ Storr driving down the paint for an explosive slam to put Ole Miss within one, 91-90, with eight seconds left.

Ole Miss would foul Arkansas again after the inbound, once again sending Acuff Jr. to the line in the double bonus. His first free throw fell short, but he would cash in on the second. With eight seconds left and trailing by two, AJ Storr came down the court and pulled up for three, narrowly missing a game-winner to keep the historic run alive.

James Scott opened the game with a slam for Ole Miss (15-20, 4-14 SEC), before Arkansas scored on its first two opening possessions, putting Ole Miss in its first deficit of the SEC Tournament, 4-2.

At the 16:42 mark, Arkansas (25-8, 13-5 SEC) scored a dunk in transition, which gave way to a 15-5 run building up to a 19-9 lead with 13 minutes left in the half.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Rebels Basketball.

Over the next few minutes of action, the Rebels battled back, cutting Arkansas's lead to 29-28 after a three-pointer from AJ Storr.

Arkansas quickly answered back with a 7-0 run to extend its advantage to 35-28, which led to a media timeout at the 3:32 mark.

Out of the timeout, both teams would trade blows with Dia scoring off a banked-in jumper, which was then followed by an Arkansas second-chance layup. Patton Pinkins then drilled a transition three with around two minutes to play as Arkansas led 37-33.

In the final second of the half, Patton Pinkins drew a foul on a last second deep attempt, knocking down all three free throws to make it a one point game, 37-36 at the half.

Coming out of the break, Ole Miss struck first with a layup from Malik Dia, taking a 38-37 lead. Through the next 10 minutes of play, the game would have eight ties, with the score knotted up 58-58 with just over nine minutes remaining.

Arkansas would knock down a pair of free throws before adding a pair of fastbreak dunks, leading 64-58 and forcing an Ole Miss timeout at the 7:30 mark.

While Arkansas would maintain its lead following the pause in action, Ole Miss eventually hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 78-75, leading to a timeout by Ole Miss with 47 seconds remaining.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Rebels Basketball.

The Rebels managed to get a stop on defense, calling a timeout with 24 seconds left. After Ilias Kamardine drew a foul and converted the shots, Ole Miss found itself down one with seven seconds left. A free throw from Arkansas would put them back up two, 79-77, before Storr's last-second make to force the extra period.

NOTABLES
- Ole Miss became the first team seeded 15 or higher to make the semifinal round of a conference tournament in Division I history.
- Adding nine boards today, James Scott finished with 41 rebounds, the fifth-most in a single SEC Tournament ever.
- AJ Storr's 78 points at this year's tournament were the 10th-most ever scored in a single event.
Ilias Kamardine's 10 steals this past week are tied for the seventh most in SEC Tournament history.

More Ole Miss News:

Georgia Bulldogs, Indiana Hoosiers Pushing to Flip Nation's No. 4 QB From Ole Miss

The SEC Tournament Bracket: Ole Miss Basketball Eyeing Upset Win Over Texas Longhorns

Ole Miss Football Recruiting Buzz: Rebels Poised for Massive Run of Commitments

Join the Community:

Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and Ole Miss Rebels On SI: @OleMissOnSI for all coverage surrounding the Ole Miss program.