MILWAUKEE — Sean Pedulla scored 20 points, Jaemyn Brakefield had 19 and Mississippi beat Iowa State 91-78 on Sunday night to reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in school history.
Mississippi (24-11) is one of seven Southeastern Conference schools still standing, the most teams any conference has sent to the third round in one season. Ole Miss fans started chanting “SEC!” with over 5½ minutes left and the game well out of reach.
Next up for the sixth-seeded Rebels is the winner of New Mexico-Michigan State in a South Region semifinal on Friday in Atlanta.
In its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance, Ole Miss has advanced to its first regional semifinal since 2001. Second-year coach Chris Beard is working on another March run after he directed Texas Tech to the 2019 NCAA Tournament final.
Beard went from Texas Tech to Texas and was midway through his second season with the Longhorns when he got fired in January 2023 after a domestic violence arrest. The charges were ultimately dropped, and Ole Miss hired Beard just two months after Texas let him go.
Now he’s looking to make a Final Four run at a second school.
Malik Dia scored 18 points for Ole Miss, and Matthew Murrell had 15. Jaylen Murray finished with 11.
Chris Jones had 26 points for the third-seeded Cyclones (25-10). Joshua Jefferson scored 13 points, and Nate Heise added 11.
After scoring 20 points in Iowa State’s over Lipscomb, Milan Momcilovic had just five points Sunday while shooting 2 of 12.
Ole Miss, a team heavy on transfers with major-conference experience, was a 5½-point underdog according to BetMGM Sportsbook, but it pushed Iowa State around for most of the night. The Rebels led by 26 points before Iowa State outscored them 26-13 over the last 5½ minutes.
After falling behind 13-5 in the game’s first five minutes, Ole Miss dominated the rest of the way. The Rebels pulled ahead for good by going on a 20-2 run that turned a 15-8 deficit into a 28-17 advantage.
Iowa State missed 12 of 13 shots and scored just two points during one first-half stretch lasting 7 minutes, 43 seconds.
Iowa State’s Dishon Jackson made the first two baskets of the second half to cut Ole Miss’ lead to 40-33, but the Rebels responded by going on an 8-1 run that culminated with a Dre Davis dunk.
Takeaways
Ole Miss: The Rebels shot 58.2% from the floor and went 11 of 19 from 3-point range to breeze to victory.
Iowa State: Ole Miss was ranked fifth and Iowa State 20th in turnover margin heading into the game. That strength-on-strength matchup was one-sided Sunday. Iowa State committed 15 turnovers while forcing just eight. Ole Miss had a 20-7 edge in points off turnovers.
Up next
Ole Miss will attempt to reach a regional final for the first time. In their only previous Sweet 16 appearance, the Rebels lost 66-56 to Arizona.
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