Ole Miss Basketball Took Advantage of 'Winning Time' vs. South Carolina

The Ole Miss Rebels played their best basketball during the final minutes of the game against South Carolina on Wednesday night.

Feb 12, 2025; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Chris Beard directs his team against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the second half at Colonial Life Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images | Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

The No. 19 Ole Miss Rebels have had to grind, but they have earned back-to-back road SEC wins to improve their conference record to 8-4 on the year. The most recent of these came in a tight contest against South Carolina on Wednesday night.

Ole Miss led at halftime against the Gamecocks, but it found itself in a neck-and-neck race down the stretch, a period of the game that was taken over by Rebels forward Malik Dia.

Following the 72-68 win, Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard highlighted that his team did not play perfectly on Wednesday, but it took advantage of the final minutes of the game.

"'Winning time' is when we played our best, the last four or five minutes of the game, so that's a positive," Beard said postgame. "It's everything we thought it would be. I know it's been well-documented. This team is good, it's well-coached, got an NBA player on it. They've been in a lot of games like this.

"They're going to win games in this league. Just happy it wasn't at our expense tonight."

The loss on Wednesday knocked South Carolina down to 0-11 in SEC play, but Beard obviously believes the Gamecocks are a talented team that has fallen victim to a stacked league in 2025. That assessment is supported by how hard Carolina played the Rebels this week and how many close games they have had in the conference slate.

"It's hard to win on the road in the SEC," Beard said. "Thought we could never really get into a rhythm offensively or defensively tonight, and I think a big reason for that was South Carolina, so a lot of respect for them."

Ole Miss now returns home for a game on Saturday when it plays host to Mississippi State in an attempt to split the season series with the Bulldogs. Tip-off at the SJB Pavilion is set for 5 p.m. CT on ESPN2.