NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Sean Pedulla stepped up and made a March memory for Ole Miss.

The senior guard made his only 3-pointer of the game when it mattered most, draining one with 1.3 seconds left to give Ole Miss an 83-80 victory over Arkansas in the second round of the Southeastern Conference men’s basketball tournament on Thursday.

Ole Miss (22-10) advanced to the quarterfinals, and will face No. 1 seed Auburn (27-4) Friday at noon. It’s only the fourth time in the past 12 years that the Rebels have gotten past the second round. They have not been to the semifinals since winning the tournament in 2013.

Auburn won both meetings with Ole Miss this season, including a 106-76 blowout on Feb. 28.

“Opportunity. One of, if not the best team in college basketball. It’s a 40-minute game, so … It’s not going to be the better team, it’s going to be the better team that played those 40 minutes,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said. “We don’t have to be better than Auburn, we’ve just got to be better than Auburn for 40 minutes.”

SEAN PEDULLA BEATS THE BUZZER 🙌

Ole Miss takes down Arkansas in an SEC thriller! pic.twitter.com/JuMEh0K4a9

— ESPN (@espn) March 13, 2025

Arkansas (20-13) overcame a 15-point deficit and had its own chance to win in the final seconds. Trevon Brazile was fouled while going for a rebound with 7.9 seconds left and the game tied at 80, but he missed both free throws that would have given the Razorbacks the lead.

Ole Miss’ Dre Davis got the rebound and passed to Pedulla, who sprinted up the floor and pulled up for an open 3-pointer. He drained it to put the Rebels ahead, and then Arkansas’ Billy Richmond III just missed a half-court shot at the buzzer.

Pedulla finished with 10 points for Ole Miss. He was only 4-for-12 shooting from the field and 1-for-7 from 3-point range.

“Shooters keep shooting, I guess is the mindset. At that point in the game, it’s March, you’ve got to make a play. My mindset was just get off the best shot possible,” Pedulla said. “Transition three. Felt like nobody picked me up. They did a little bit far back. At that point I was teeing up a good shot and fortunately it dropped.”

Malik Dia led the Rebels with 19 points and eight rebounds, Jaylen Murray had 17 points and Matthew Murrell scored 12.

Jonas Aidoo led Arkansas with 17 points and eight rebounds. Brazile finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Richmond also scored 15 points.

“We consider this a great win, maybe one of the best of the season. Arkansas had won five of their last six or six of their last seven. To me it was maybe kind of a second weekend-type game,” Beard said. “I don’t view this as the first game in Nashville. I view this as we competed with a team that has second-weekend NCAA Tournament written all over ‘em.”