Posted on Fri, Mar. 14, 2008

ATLANTA -- Ten years after the Valpo disaster, the Ole Miss Rebels have been stunned again.

Ole Miss forced an improbable overtime with Georgia on Thursday night in first-round play of the SEC Tournament at the Georgia Dome, and it seemed the Rebels might even pull this one out.

Dave Bliss, Georgia’s veteran center, had other ideas.

The Bulldogs sliced through the Rebels’ full-court defense in the final frantic seconds, and Corey Butler dropped a perfect pass to Bliss for an 8-foot jumper that beat Ole Miss 95-93 in overtime.

Ole Miss (21-10) was all but eliminated from NCAA Tournament contention. The Bulldogs, perhaps playing for fifth-year coach Dennis Felton’s job, improved to 14-16 with the hard-fought victory.

Ten years ago, to the day, Valparaiso’s Bryce Drew hit a 3-point shot as time expired to beat the fourth-seeded Rebels 70-69 in the NCAA Tournament.

Ole Miss likely will have to settle for the NIT this time around.

David Huertas led the Rebels with 29 points. Rugged center Dwayne Curtis finished with 26 points. Huertas and teammate Chris Warren hit three free throws each when the Rebels’ backs were against the wall, but the Bulldogs had the final answer with Bliss’ winning shot.

“They’re devastated,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. “They should be devastated. We preached all year, you should be a good steward of your opportunities. The team that leaves the fewest plays on the table is usually going to win.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t.”

Warren, the Rebels’ talented freshman point guard, struggled throughout against the Bulldogs’ aggressive defense.

“It’ll take a couple of days (to recover) from a game like that,” Kennedy said. “For me, it’ll take longer than that. We’ll get an opportunity to play again, somewhere … and we’ll try to prolong our season as long as possible.”

Terrance Woodbury led Georgia with 25 points and senior point guard Sundiata Gaines finished with 22. The Bulldogs hit 26 of 32 free throws and recorded eight blocked shots. Georgia also shot 57 percent from the field.

“It was really gratifying to see our players come through in so many tough situations,” Felton said.

None of them tougher than Bliss’ winning shot, although he was open because the Rebels had double-teamed Gaines near the perimeter.

“I just tried to get the right kind of spacing and Corey (Butler) made a great pass,” Bliss said.

Bliss had a key three-point play that gave the Bulldogs a 91-90 lead with 1:23 left in overtime. Curtis hit a field goal just inside the 3-point line that pulled the Rebels to within one point with 15.5 seconds on the clock.

Felton, whose future at the school has come into serious question, will lead the Bulldogs onto the floor tonight against traditional SEC power Kentucky (18-11).

Ole Miss, meanwhile, watched its modest three-game winning streak come to an end. The Rebels are all but certain to play in the NIT for the second consecutive year. They went 7-9 in SEC regular-season play, winning on the road only once – at Georgia.

The Bulldogs did an effective job defensively against Warren, who picked up his third foul with 12:58 left. Warren hit just 2 of 10 shots with two assists.

Ole Miss went on an 18-2 run midway through the second half and actually grabbed a 68-65 lead on Huertas’ 3-point field goal from the left wing. But the Bulldogs continued to force Ole Miss into untimely turnovers, and showed a strong transition game in moving back in front.

Eniel Polynice tied the game at 74 with a drive to the hoop with about three minutes left, but the Rebels left Gaines open on the perimeter, and he drained a 3-point shot to put the Bulldogs ahead 77-74.

The Rebels’ Dwayne Curtis scored on a put-back to trim the lead to one, but the Bulldogs hit enough free throws down the stretch to put it away.

Ole Miss, which whipped Georgia 76-62 just five days earlier in Athens, Ga., watched the Bulldogs build a lead of as many as nine points in the first half.

The lead changed hands 12 times before halftime, but Georgia had the hot hand from the outside. The Bulldogs shot 56.7 percent from the field in the first half, including a 5-of-9 showing from 3-point range.

The Rebels shot the ball well themselves, hitting 55.6 percent of their shots before the break. But Woodbury’s 13 first-half points allowed the Bulldogs to take a 44-40 lead into halftime.