Sean Pedulla helps Ole Miss snap three-game skid, leading it to win over Oklahoma
Sean Pedulla grew up less than an hour north of University of Oklahoma but the Ole Miss guard never got interest in his hometown school.
On Saturday the guard got a chance to show what the Sooners missed out on with a game-winning three-point shot with 15 second left as the Rebels won 87-84, snapping a three-game skid.
Pedulla scored 26 points to lead all scorers in a game Ole Miss had to have. While the Rebels (20-9, 9-7 Southeastern Conference) have been a solid NCAA Tournament team when it comes to the projections, dropping three straight SEC games always gives pause to assume meaningful March basketball is still in the forecast.
After Saturday’s victory on the back of Pedulla that forecast should feel a little sunnier.
“Yeah, I would say (it was a must-win game),” Pedulla said. “Especially because we’re trying to play our best basketball going into March. Coming off the last two games we felt like we were under-performed, big time. We needed to get back in the win column.”
Though of course Ole Miss could not make it easy on themselves. Three times in the first half it took a double-digit lead, as many as 11 points, only for Oklahoma (17-12, 4-12) to climb back. The Sooners took a one-point lead late in the first half. In the second half the Rebels led by as many as nine points only for the Sooners to rally for a lead, again.
In the recent losses the Rebels have not really show toughness, at least that is what head coach Chris Beard has alluded to in postgame comments. On Saturday some toughness and fight returned in the key moments.
“We got to do a better job of taking control of the game and valuing those possessions even more when we’re up by a couple possessions,” Pedulla said. “We got a lot of stuff to work on, still. We can get better going into March.”
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Pedulla was one of five Rebels to score in double figures. Jaemyn Brakefield scored 16 points, Dre Davis scored 13 points while Matthew Murrell and Malik Dia finished with 10 points each.
Ole Miss shot 51 percent from the floor and 33 percent from three-point range (8-24). Pedulla was 5-9 from behind the arc on Saturday, matching Oklahoma guard Dayton Forsythe who went 4-5 from long range.
“The depth and the balance (of the offense) when we needed it most was there today,” Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said. “We got six guys averaging double figures or right around it. That’s the offensive identity of our team and today’s no different.”
Ole Miss finishes up its home schedule on Wednesday, hosting No. 5 Tennessee at 8 p.m. CT before heading to play No. 3 Florida on March 8 to conclude the regular season.
