The third-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks defeated Ole Miss 93-90 in overtime in the SEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday, March 14, surviving one of the most stunning tournament upsets in recent SEC history. This wasn't some blowout—it was a back-and-forth thriller at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville that came down to the final seconds.
Ole Miss had to win three games in as many days to reach the semifinals and became the lowest-seeded team to ever reach a conference semifinals. The 15th-seeded Rebels had knocked off Texas, Georgia, and Alabama—no small feat—but they couldn't quite get over the hump against Arkansas. Ole Miss never led after a key 6-0 run by Arkansas in the second half, despite AJ Storr's best efforts as he finished with 24 points and scored 9 points in overtime.
What made this game wild? Darius Acuff Jr. hit a contested 3-pointer with 2:38 to play in regulation that proved critical in getting the game to overtime, and Storr answered by driving the length of the floor to score a layup and tie it with 1.1 seconds remaining. That's tournament basketball at its absolute peak—clutch players making clutch shots when it matters most.
For the first time since 2017, Arkansas will play for an SEC Tournament title, facing No. 4 seed Vanderbilt at noon on Sunday at Bridgestone Arena in the championship game. Meleek Thomas led Arkansas with a game-high 29 points and hit the go-ahead driving layup with 42 seconds remaining in overtime. Check out how Arkansas beat Oklahoma in the quarterfinals to set up this semifinal matchup.