South Carolina is the first to go home from Nashville

In a game that shouldn’t matter to Kentucky’s SEC Tournament journey, Ole Miss defeated South Carolina in the Wednesday night opener, 67-61, in front of a surprisingly good crowd in Bridgestone Arena. The Wednesday night session brought out a big audience to see the four worst teams in the Southeastern Conference, highlighting the excitement around the conference tournament’s first full experience in Nashville since COVID shut down the event on this day three years ago.

As for the actual basketball in Game 1, the play on the court is unlikely to make any March Madness highlight reels, but the Rebels advanced as the betting favorite–although South Carolina was the higher seed in the 12-vs-13 matchup.

For Ole Miss, true freshman guard Amaree Abram paced the scoring with a team-high 20 points in the win. He hit five three-pointers, including this one:

Somebody get him a map because @amareeabram has him LOST! pic.twitter.com/8UnicKmTrg

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) March 9, 2023

It was a true freshman also leading the way for South Carolina in defeat as No. 1 recruit GG Jackson had 24 points on 20 shots in the losing effort. Jackson was once considered a first-round draft selection but slipped over time in his first season at South Carolina, so he will have a decision to make now that the Gamecocks’ season is officially over. He took a third of his team’s shots Wednesday night.

Up next in Bridgestone Arena, LSU and Georgia are set to play for a spot against Vanderbilt on Day 2.