March 12, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Georgia Bulldogs guard Blue Kane (0) dribbles into the chest of Mississippi Rebels forward Malik Dia (0) during the first half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images AJ Storr scored 19 points, Malik Dia added 17, and 15th-seeded Ole Miss withstood the horror of its second straight wire-to-wire upset with a 76-72 win over Georgia in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Thursday in Nashville.
Travis Perry had 16 points and four 3-pointers and Ilias Kamardine had eight points, four assists and four steals for the Rebels (14-19). The Rebels (14-19) led 55-32 with 13 minutes remaining and lost all but two points.
Seventh-seeded Georgia used a full-court press and a 22-2 run to tie the game at 57-54 with 7:35 left, and the Bulldogs crawled to within two points on a layup by Kanon Catchings to make it 60-58 later, but they never got closer.
Catchings scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half for the Bulldogs (22-10), who have won their third straight and are at 6-5 and considered a lock for the NCAA Tournament.
Ole Miss, which lost 12 of 13 to close the regular season, fell short of a 76-66 win over Texas in the first round. The next game is the quarterfinals against No. 2 seed and No. 15 Alabama.
The Rebels held a 70-63 lead with 59 seconds left until Georgia shut the door again.
After Storr missed the front end of a one-and-one, Dylan James dunked to get Georgia within 73-71 with 5.3 seconds left.
Kezza Giffa hit 1 of 2 free throws to give the Rebels a 74-71 lead with 3.9 seconds left.
Marcus Millender made one free throw after Ole Miss elected to foul with 3.0 seconds left, then intentionally missed a second free throw before Perry controlled the force ball and made two free throws to end it.
Ole Miss held Georgia to 36.4% shooting from the field. The Bulldogs hit 9 of 38 (23.7%) from long range.
Jeremiah Wilkinson, the Bulldogs’ leading scorer at 17.3 points per game, had eight points on 3-of-12 shooting.
Georgia center Somto Cyril was ejected after committing two serious fouls with 17:54 left for elbowing Perry in the head. Perry made a free throw, and Dia followed up with a 3-pointer to push the lead to 43-24.
–Field level media
