TRANSCRIPT: Ole Miss beats Arkansas and here’s everything Coach Beard, Malik Dia and Sean Pedulla said

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Sean Pedulla drained a dagger three-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining as the No. 8 seed Ole Miss Rebels (22-10, 10-8 SEC) won an 83-80 thriller against the No. 9 seed Arkansas Razorbacks (20-13, 8-10 SEC) on Thursday in Bridgestone Arena.

After the game, head coach Chris Beard, guard Sean Pedulla and forward Malik Dia met with media to discuss Ole Miss’ last-second win. Here’s everything they had to say:

Coach Beard Opening Statement

Hey, good March, college basketball game. Had to be great for the fans on both sides. A lot of respect for the opponent (who has) a Hall of Fame coach and a seven-man rotation right now in my opinion. Told the guys this last night, I think all seven are either draft picks, or guys that have a chance to be NBA players in the future. So, we consider this a great win, maybe one of the best of the season.

Arkansas had won five of their last 6 or 6 of their last seven. So to me, it was a maybe even kind of a second-weekend type game. It’s a talented team. So I think both teams played really well in segments of the game. There was portions in the first half, in the middle of the second half where Ole Miss was playing about as well as we could play, And then Arkansas the same. There’s portions, especially in the second half, where they were on full cylinders. So we wish those guys the best of luck in the NCAA tournament. A lot of respect for Coach Cal and a really good win for our team. I don’t really kind of view this as the first game in Nashville. Again, I view this as we just competed with a team that to me has second-weekend NCAA tournament written all over them.

Question for Malik: The second consecutive meeting with Arkansas where they kind of really struggled to keep you off the glass. And you know, just the points kind of spoke for themselves I guess. What have you kind of liked about the matchup that you’ve had in both of those meetings, particularly culminating this one today?

Malik: It’s March, you know, we got to show up and bring our best effort. It’s not really about the matchup, but I think it’s more about the team and just, you know, figuring out what’s going on offensively and defensively. So just, you know, being in attack mode and being aggressive.

Question: Sean, you’d missed your first six threes. What was going through your mind on that shot? Can you take us through that play a little bit?

Sean: Yeah, Shooters keep shooting, I guess is the mindset. At that point of the game, it’s March, you’ve got to make a play. And my mindset was just get off the best shot possible. Transition three. I felt like nobody picked me up. If they did, it was a little bit far back. So at that point I was just teeing up a good shot and just fortunate it dropped.

Question: Was it frustration before you hit that shot. How were you feeling. Were you hesitant on the three. You hardly ever go zero for six on threes.

Sean: Yeah. I mean I wouldn’t say I was hesitant just because, you know, I’ve shot that shot countless times in my life, or just I’ve put the work in basically. So even though I was 0-6, I’m a confident player. I shoot confidently and that’s what was required tonight. So again, just fortunate that the last one dropped.

Question: Did you know you were 0-6?

Sean: Yeah.

Question: To both players. You’ve lost to Auburn twice, got beat pretty bad the last time. How exciting is it to get another shot?

Malik: Yeah, I’m super excited, really want another crack at them. I think we’ve got the team to to beat them. We’ve been preparing, and I think right now we’re playing really good March basketball, and our culture is strong. So I’m super excited. And it’s going to be a big challenge, but I’m ready.

Sean: Yeah, I’d just say anytime you get a chance to play one of the top teams in the country, it’s a good opportunity. Good chance to kind of test yourselves and see see where you’re at, especially heading into March. So, yeah, they’ve beaten us twice, but, I think we come out best effort and fix the things we’ve been messing up on and practice and I think we’ll be good.

Question: For both of you guys, Just wondering from a player’s perspective, what has it been like going through this grind this year with this SEC?

Sean: I feel like it’s been really fun. More so than anything. This is my first year in the SEC, so this is just what I’m used to as far as what the SEC is like. But I think it’s really fun. Just that every single game you’re playing, a tournament team, if not a top 15, ten, five ranked team. So the competition is insane. So for me, it’s just fun to play good basketball day in and day out.

Malik: Super fun. It’s a blessing. I look at it as, you know, not a lot of people have the opportunity to do this, and especially at this time, you know, the SEC probably being the best conference in the history this year. So it’s just super blessing, such a blessing and just so much fun to play in this league, like each and every game, like he said, playing against really good competition. And I think it’s just going to make us stronger for March. I think playing against quality opponents each and every game is just something different.

Questions for Coach Beard

Question: Coach, what are your thoughts on facing Auburn for a third time this season after what happened in the previous two meetings?

Coach Beard: Yeah. Opportunity. One of, if not the best team in college basketball. It’s a 40-minute game, so, you know, it’s not going to be the better team. It’s going to be the better team that played those 40 minutes. So I think we would all agree, that Auburn is one of the best teams in the country. I think we’d all agree it’d be a great challenge for us, but it’s a 40-minute game and that’s what makes March special. So we don’t have to be better than Auburn. We just got to be better than Auburn for 40 minutes.

Question: Chris, you referenced it a little bit at the beginning, but a game like today, followed by a game like tomorrow, I know it’s not a carbon copy of what’s to come next week, but does this sort of prepare you a little bit for what you guys will face next week?

Coach Beard: Yeah, I think so. Every step of the way, just like non-conference games Louisville, Purdue, BYU, Colorado State, these are NCAA tournament teams. Certainly in our league, every single night you’re playing against an NCAA tournament roster, coach, team and talent. So, you know, two tournaments in March, we’re fortunate enough to know that we’re going to participate in both. You know, we actually came here to win this tournament. I know a lot of people don’t understand that. So we set this up. You know, we always say the first game in any tournament is the most important. So it’s a singular focus. Laser focus. Only thing we talked about was our first game. So four-team tournament. We beat bye -BYE. We got the bye. So that was our first game. And today we won the four-team tournament. So now it’s on to the next four-team tournament. Again most important game in any tournament, it’s the first game. So for us, it’s all Auburn. We’ll, obviously you have to play our best 40 minutes of the season. But that’s no different than when you get to the NCAA tournament. You better put your best 40 out there, especially as the rounds continue.

Question: We noticed Mikeal Brown-Jones wasn’t necessarily on the bench today. Is there a plan for him moving forward?

Coach Beard: Yeah, absolutely. Just had personal issue today. We hope he can rejoin the team as quick as possible. So it’s just a personal issue, period. And so Mikeal is a big big part of this team. We don’t win this game today if Mikeal Brown is not on our team.

Question: You mentioned what you think of this Arkansas team. Just what have you made of the the turnaround that they’ve made from the 0-5 start they had in league play?

Coach Beard: Yeah. Here’s my look on it. It starts with Coach Cal. He’s been doing this a long time. Not just the Kentucky, you know, lead story on Sportscenter every night, but also at other schools around the way, you know, UMass, Memphis and others. So, you know, he knows what he’s doing. It’s proven over time. So I think their team, like most teams, has changed throughout the year. They had a lot of adversity early with injuries, things they couldn’t control. But now when the dust settles again, in my opinion, this is a second-weekend type team. The seven guys in their rotation right now are really, really good players. So we value this as a huge win, almost like a second-weekend type win for us. And I think with Cal, you know I think, what, he got to 0-5 or something. And I just kept explaining to our guys in the locker room as we watched the SEC list. You know, when I say these are NCAA tournament teams I never had Arkansas. Not on that list, even despite the 0-5, because with that talent on the roster and that coach, you know, it’s just a matter of time until they figured it out. I would argue they’re playing the best basketball of anybody in the country right now. Is it six of their last seven in the SEC or five out of the last six wins… You think about this league and you think about that like a two-game winning streak in this conference is like, you know, a honeymoon, a vacation, they want to build a statue for you if you can get to three in a row. So for Arkansas to be playing the kind of ball they’re playing right now in late February and March, I think speaks a lot about their talent and their coach.

Question: I know it’s a team game, but you talked about personal challenges and going up against Hall of Fame John Calipari. You get to take on Bruce Pearl next. How satisfying is it for someone like you to play against those guys and find a way to beat them?

Coach Beard: I’m not sure what you mean by somebody like me. I mean, yeah, we won at Fort Scott, then we won at Seminole, we won at McMurray, we won at South Carolina, we won Angelo State, we won Little Rock, we won Texas Tech, we won Texas, and this is year two, and we’re winning at Ole Miss. And I don’t say that in a self-promotion way at all. But I’m going to take up for our staff and our players and stuff that the way you worded that was like, I don’t know, this isn’t my first rodeo. You know, I might look young because I got a haircut last night. I’ve got this trendy beard that my daughters like. And so, you know, but I’ve been doing this for a minute, so. But to answer your question, anytime you have a chance to coach against a Hall of Fame coach, absolutely. We all understand that; to say anything different would not be truthful. So in this league, it’s almost every single night. So Coach Cal and then tomorrow Bruce Pearl. So yeah we’ll see where we stack up. But this is not our first rodeo.

Question: Following up on what Malik was saying about this league, maybe strengthening the teams for the NCAA tournament. Do you believe that or do you worry about wear and tear heading into that event?

Coach Beard: I think both ways. And that’s a conversation that basketball people have. Even the coaches talk about that in our spring meetings. You know, it’s like, it’s the gauntlet. And, you know, especially the team that the two teams that play on Sunday in this tournament and you turn back around, you could be playing on Thursday. So, you know, one, the obvious, you played against great competition for two and a half months. And so you’re going to be prepared. There’s nobody you’re going to see on that bracket that you haven’t faced those types of challenges. But two, you know, I think the other side of the coin, it’s worth kind of thinking about because this is an absolute grind. I think there’ll be other teams in the tournament that not that they’ve rested, but they haven’t had this mental and physical challenge, you know, twice a week since, you know, early January. When I was younger, I would always go ‘players can play forever. We grew up playing all day long. That doesn’t matter,’ you know. But you know, we got a banged up team. I think everybody in this tournament is probably banged up in some way. So, I know recovery, sleep, hydration, rest. When I first got started, this, you know, our practice schedule would be 2.5 hours. Our practice schedule is 45 minutes now, like, we understand that recovery and rest and mental rest as well is really important. I think nobody will know until we see. We’ll see what happens. If this league produces second weekend teams, third weekend teams and has a couple teams in the final four, you know, it’ll be interesting to see. And just from a basketball fan, I pay attention to that too.

Question: Sean just said he knew he was 0-6, but shooters shoot. I mean, what’s it like to coach a guy with that type of mindset at the end of a game?

Coach Beard: Yeah, we got a few of those guys.They’re just guys that have extreme confidence no matter what the situation, score, time, short term memory. Sean’s one of those guys. We’ve got several of those guys on his team, which is another reason I think we have a chance to be a factor this month. You know, tonight was a perfect example. We get five guys in double figure scoring. That was the design of this team. All these guys checked their ego in the recruiting process. They knew what they were signing up for here. We never talk about leading scorer. We never talk about points per game. But Sean’s one of those guys that has the courage. He wants the ball in those moments. Just like we have a couple other guys with that mindset as well.

Next Up

Ole Miss will gear up for the No. 1 seed Auburn Tigers (27-4, 15-3 SEC). Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. CT on ESPN.