Ole Miss cruises, becomes 7th SEC Sweet 16 group

Adam RittenbergMar 24, 2025, 12:07 AM ET

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College football press reporter; signed up with ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.MILWAUKEE– Ole Miss guard Matthew

Murrell used sunglasses in a wondrous locker room Sunday night, after his Rebels group– and the SEC– ended the first weekend of the males’s NCAA competition with swagger and style.The sixth-seeded Rebels thumped No. 3 seed Iowa State 91-78 at Fiserv Online forum, advancing

to their very first Sugary food 16 given that 2001, the only other in group history. Ole Miss also became the seventh SEC team to reach the Sugary food 16, setting a competition record. The ACC previously held the mark for the majority of Sweet 16 teams from one league when it had six in the 2016 occasion.”It shows the SEC, if it wasn’t the best, it’s one of the very best conferences of all time,”said Murrell, who scored 15 points in Sunday’s win.”You can say what you want to state, however you have actually got 7 guys using up nearly half of the Sugary food 16, it’s something unique. “Despite being the second-lowest-seeded SEC team to reach the Sugary food 16, ahead of 10-seed Arkansas, Ole Miss left no doubt, leading

the Cyclones by as lots of as 26 points and registering its largest margin of triumph in an NCAA competition game. Murrell described the SEC as “a dogfight every night,”which assisted prepare its teams for March.The SEC set an NCAA competition record with 14 teams getting berths. The league easily eclipsed the previous mark of 11 by the Big East in 2011.

But that year, only two Big East groups advanced to the Sweet 16. Editor’s Picks 2 Associated”We set the unbiased truly high, “Ole Miss second-year coach Chris Beard said.”We want to enter the competition. We want to have a great seed. We want to be one of those groups that has a possibility to win the tournament. And Ole Miss winning the tournament, I do not know, possible? No. Possible? Absolutely. “Beard stated his group is watching a documentary on the 1983 championship game team from NC State, coached by Jim Valvano. The Wolfpack likewise were a No. 6 seed in that tournament. “Gamers resemble,’When are we

going to complete this?’ “Beard stated of the documentary.” I resemble,’We’re going to finish on Sunday night, right before the Monday [championship game]. game. So, it’s not arrogance. It’s absolutely belief. If I didn’t think this group can continuing to win games in this competition, then I shouldn’t be the coach at Ole Miss.”