Ole Miss outplaying Alabama was just as much of a shocker for the Rebel Nation as it was for the rest of college basketball.
Then, it was just Chris Beard doing Chris Beard things, even though it seemed almost undoable after their nightmarish 10-game skid. Beard has his way of shredding brackets as the tournament's most dismissed underdog, and he did it again Friday night with an 80-79 win over No. 2 Alabama.
Not only did it punch their ticket to the semifinals, but it handed them a serious shot at the NCAA Tournament bid after losing 12 of their 13 final regular-season games.
Ole Miss seems to have found their peak under Chris Beard
Speaking on his winning formula, one that they couldn't seem to crack earlier, Beard emphasized how the team is hitting its peak.
"Give our guys a lot of credit. In terms of us, whenever we out-rebound the opponent, we have a lot of success. That was a focal point in the game plan. We got that done," Beard said post-game.
"In terms of us, whenever we out-rebound the opponent, we have a lot of success. That was a focal point in the game plan. We got that done."
"Alabama is so hard to guard. We went back and forth between a no-threes defense and also protecting the paint. I thought the coaching staff did a really good job. Wes Flanigan had a really good scout. Everybody contributed to this game. I thought our players did a good job believing. Every four-minute timeout we set up how we were going to play a little bit different."
James Scott blocking Aiden Sherrell's layup attempt was the deciding factor of the game, one that sealed the quarterfinal win for the Rebels.
AJ Storr scored 17 points, Ilias Kamardine had 16, Malik ‌Dia added 14 points, and Patton Pinkins added 13 for the Rebels.
"Four guys in double-figure scoring tonight. That's kind of our formula. Another low-turnover game for us. The stat sheet will say nine, but I think we had two turnovers in our last three or four possessions. So other than that, it's six-, seven-turnover games, exactly where it has to be for us to have success in this tournament."
"We set this up as our second four-team tournament here in Nashville. Tomorrow we'll have a chance to win the championship in this four-team tournament."
For that, though, they will have to take on No. 3 Arkansas in the semifinals.