A.J. Storr scored 19 points, Malik Dia added 17 and 15th-seeded Ole Miss weathered a scare for its second straight wire-to-wire upset with a 76-72 victory over Georgia in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville on Thursday.
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), who led 55-32 with 13 minutes remaining and lost all but two points of that edge before holding on.
Seventh-seeded Georgia used a full-court press and a 22-2 run to get within 57-54 with 7:35 remaining, and the Bulldogs crept within two on Kanon Catchings’ layup to make it 60-58 moments later but never were closer.
Catchings scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half for the Bulldogs (22-10), who had won three in a row and five out of six and are considered a lock to make the NCAA Tournament.
Ole Miss, which had lost 12 of 13 to close the regular season, never trailed in a 76-66 victory over Texas in the first round. Next up is a quarterfinal matchup against second-seeded and 15th-ranked Alabama.
The Rebels held a 70-63 lead with 59 seconds left before Georgia closed 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 remaining.
Kezza Giffa made 1 of 2 free throws to put the Rebels up 74-71 with 3.9 seconds to go.
Marcus Millender made one free throw after Ole Miss elected to foul with 3.0 seconds left, and he intentionally missed the second before Perry controlled the posse ball and made two free throws to end it.
Ole Miss held Georgia to 36.4% shooting from the field. The Bulldogs were 9 of 38 (23.7%) from long distance.
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 a flagrant-2 foul with 17:54 remaining for elbowing Perry in the head. Perry made a free throw, and Dia’s subsequent 3-pointer pushed the lead to 43-24.
