Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Squeaks by South Alabama for 64-54 win in Second Annual Tad Pad Game
OXFORD, Miss. – Returning to the Tad Smith Coliseum for the second year in a row under head coach Chris Beard for the annual throwback game, the Ole Miss men’s basketball team gutted out a 64-54 win over the South Alabama Jaguars with the help of guard Sean Pedulla’s career night from three-point range.
3-0.#HottyToddy x #Culture pic.twitter.com/REEbcQls05
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 13, 2024
Throughout the night at the Tad Pad, Ole Miss paid homage to former head men’s basketball coach Bob Weltlich. Weltlich coached the Rebels from 1976-1982, bringing Ole Miss to its first NCAA tournament appearance in school history during the 1980 season.
“Are you ready?” Weltlich shouted to the Tad Pad crowd before the game as they responded back with a loud ‘Hotty Toddy’ chant
“A lot of things going on with this game that was as important as the scoreboard. A lot of tradition, great coaches, great players, great teams in Ole Miss basketball history…the last couple of days, having coach (Bob) Weltlich and his wife here was special.”
~ Coach Beard on honoring Weltlich at the Tad Pad
First half
The Rebels won the opening tip of the game; however, the shots refused to fall for both teams within the first two minutes. Finally, Rebel guard Davon Barnes found just enough room on the wing to drain a three to put Ole Miss on the board.
With the absence of Matthew Murrell due to a knee injury, Barnes was inserted into the starting lineup, marking his first start as a Rebel. After the win, head coach Chris Beard commented on why he decided to sit Murrell against the Jaguars.
“He got banged up in the last game. He worked tirelessly to prepare to play tonight and wanted to play tonight, just more of a coach’s decision. His heart was in the right place, but it is a long season. This will give him a couple more days to rehab and hopefully help the team on Saturday.”
~ Beard on Murrell’s injury
The Jaguars found themselves within three of the Rebels early, trailing 8-5 after draining a triple of their own. However, Virginia Tech transfer Sean Pedulla then caught fire for the Rebels, draining two in a row from behind the arc to put Ole Miss up by nine just over five minutes in.
“Going into the game, we kind of did a good job replicating it (the South Alabama defense) the best we could in practice. So going into the night, I knew it would just make our jobs a little bit easier if I could get a few shots to fall from outside.”
~ Pedulla on his career night from three
Rebel forward Malik Dia made the Jaguar defense feel his presence early on the glass, showing his size as he went up for a putback dunk over the top of defenders to give Ole Miss an early nine-point lead.
Presence Felt 😤@malikkdia x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/TBaA2d9dvv
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 13, 2024
After the game, Beard stated that the Rebels did just enough from beyond the arc to win the game, but it was their work on the glass that made the difference.
“We had some off shooting nights. How do you win the game? We outrebounded our opponent. Dia had a special night on the glass, probably a career-high for him in rebounds.”
~ Beard on Dia’s night on the glass
Fouls became a problem for Ole Miss as three Rebel players picked up a couple of quick fouls in a row to give the Jaguars some life as they cut the deficit to 16-12 midway through the half.
Struggling to get anything going on the offensive end, the Rebels went the next four minutes without a basket, going 0-for-5 from the field in that span. South Alabama took advantage of the opportunity, going on a 10-0 run during that time and eventually taking a 17-16 lead over Ole Miss.
Rebel forward Dre Davis ended the scoring drought for Ole Miss with a fastbreak layup, ultimately giving the Rebels the lead back until the Jaguars answered on the other end with another triple.
The back-and-forth lead changes kept coming as Jaemyn Brakefield put the Rebels back in front with his first basket of the night. However, the Jaguars refused to go away, tying the game again at 24 a piece with just over six minutes left in the half. Pedulla had an answer for Ole Miss though, draining back-to-back triples in a hurry as his hot start continued to benefit the Rebels.
Klafke with the steal / Pedulla with the triple 🔥@eduardoklafke_ x @PedullaSean pic.twitter.com/ilP7vOIyhu
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 13, 2024
Both Brakefield and Pedulla would continue to pour it on the Jaguars as the pair scored the next eight points for Ole Miss finding themselves up 38-26 heading into the halftime locker room.
UNCONCSIOUS 🥵@PedullaSean x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/vCktbOAzZ0
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 13, 2024
At the break, Pedulla led the way for the Rebels with 19 points, draining five of his eight first-half attempts from behind the arc. Brakefield would add 9 points of his own as the pair proved to be too much for South Alabama late in the half.
Second half
Coming out of the break, the Jaguars immediately cut the Ole Miss lead to single digits as the Rebels went scoreless in the first three minutes of the half. Jaylen ‘JuJu’ Murray would then drain his first basket of the night, a triple that put the Rebels back up by 10.
Barnes would eventually check back in for the Rebels as well, scoring the next five points for Ole Miss to keep the double-digit lead five minutes into the half.
Following another triple from Pedulla that extended the Ole Miss lead to 13, South Alabama came right back with an answer. Forcing uncomfortable shots for the Rebels offensively, the Jaguars cut the lead to single digits once again, refusing to go away.
The Jaguars went on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes of play to cut their deficit to five as the Rebels again struggled to find any offense. Brakefield eventually ended the drought for the Rebel offense, draining a deep two-pointer and drawing a foul to get the Tad Pad crowd on its feet.
Ja3myn@Jaemyn1 x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/5vo5MYJyZW
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 13, 2024
A couple of trips to the charity stripe for Davis extended the Ole Miss lead back to nine; however, the Jaguars continued to fight through the solid Rebel defense to get shots to fall as they found themselves within four with under 10 minutes left to play.
As the baskets became rare down the stretch, both squads began to pick up the intensity resulting in Davis going down for Ole Miss. The crowd became the quietest it had been all night as the Rebel forward had to be helped off the floor.
After going over seven minutes without a field goal, the Rebels finally found some offense as Murray, Brakefield and Pedulla hit back-to-back-to-back triples. Ole Miss extended the lead back to double-digits, 64-54, with just over a minute to play and you could feel the game was theirs to lose. Following the win, Pedulla commented on the struggles of facing the Jaguar’s zone defense.
“I think we just fell in love with the perimeter shots too much. The zone (defense) kind of does that to you. It’s kind of like one of the reasons people play zone, to take away your paint presence and force shots outside. I think we went through that seven-minute span where we just fell in love with the three-ball and the shots just weren’t dropping.”
~ Pedulla on the Rebels’ scoring drought
𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵: Sean Pedulla buries his SEVENTH three-pointer of the game! 🔥@PedullaSean x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/JybehKu0Ue
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 13, 2024
Pedulla ended the night with 27 points, leading the way for the Rebels as he hit a career-high seven three-pointers. Brakefield also added 14 more points for Ole Miss while not missing a shot and Dia grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
Up next
Ole Miss men’s hoops will hit the road next, but not far, as they travel to Southaven, Mississippi on Saturday, Nov. 16 to take on the Colorado State Rams. Tipoff is set for 3 pm CT in the Landers Center.
Kameron Wicker
Kam is a senior at Ole Miss, currently pursuing a degree in Journalism. Even though he's from Delhi, Louisiana, that didn't stop Kam from growing up a diehard Ole Miss fan. He's a sports guru who watches and follows all sports at all times. He lettered four years in football and baseball in high school and is an avid Saints, Pelicans, and Astros fan. In his free time, you can find him watching sports or at the rec participating in them.
