Trailing by three points at South Carolina with less than 10 seconds remaining Tuesday, Ole Miss basketball secured a vital defensive stop, and guard Matthew Murrell set off down the left wing in search of the tying bucket.

The veteran guard pulled up well in front of the 3-point line with 5.5 seconds still on the clock and launched a 3-pointer that didn't come close. The Rebels went on to lose 68-65.

It seemed like a bizarre decision, but Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said Murrell made the right read, and wondered aloud whether there should have been a foul called against South Carolina's Jacobi Wright, who was defending Murrell on the play.

"We can sit here and dispute whether it was a foul or not, but there was absolutely contact," Beard said. "Everybody will see it tonight on video. When the contact is made, Matt makes the right basketball play to try to get three free throws."

Beard thought it was possible that South Carolina (20-3, 8-2 SEC) would foul Murrell intentionally, sending him to the free-throw line for a 1-and-1 scenario instead of allowing him to get a 3-point shot off that would tie the score.

If Murrell sensed that was the case, Beard said, he was under instructions to shoot the ball and try to draw a shooting foul, which would have led to three foul shots.

"I don't think the game ever comes down to one play," Beard said. "But, certainly on that one play, when we're down three, the first question is: Are they trying to foul up three? So, we played that, from our perspective, as perfect as we could. We got the defensive stop. We had enough time on the clock. We got the ball to the player who we wanted to get the ball to, Matt Murrell.

"We're coming down the floor. Matt's read there is, if they're fouling on purpose, get a shot up to get three free throws. If they're not fouling on purpose, then make a basketball play depending on time and score."

GAME STORY: Ole Miss basketball's late comeback can't undo early defensive lapse in loss to South Carolina

Ole Miss (18-5, 5-5), which trailed by 17 points in the second half, fell just shy of a remarkable comeback.

It held South Carolina without a basket for the final 3:47 of the game, but only came away with two points of its own during that stretch.

That set up Murrell's desperation heave. South Carolina coach Lamont Paris was asked after the game whether he had instructed his team to foul intentionally.

"We were gonna be in a mode where we were gonna switch everything aggressively, in a fashion where you don't give up a 3," Paris said. "And so, if you foul while that's happening, so be it. But we hadn't called specifically to foul, but we wanted to be very aggressive in what we were doing, and play in a way where the only three that (they) were going to take was a three like that three. You can't stop someone from shooting a 3, but it was a difficult shot."

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Chris Beard on ending to Ole Miss basketball's loss at South Carolina