No. 23 Ole Miss falls short to No. 1 Auburn in SEC battle: ‘I thought we played hard enough to win today…not so sure this isn’t the best game Auburn has played’

Oxford, Miss. – After snapping a three-game losing streak, the No. 23 Ole Miss Rebels fought and scratched to stay in the game but fell short, 92-82, to the No. 1 Auburn Tigers in yet another SEC battle in the Sandy and John Black Pavilion.

The Pavilion had a crowd of 9,974 in attendance for the game, the third-largest crowd in SJB history.

9,974: Third-Largest Crowd in Program History

Shoutout to Boyz Brand for donating $1 to the @grovecollectnil for every fan in attendance!#HottyToddy x #Culture pic.twitter.com/hsWNGCWPPX

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) February 1, 2025

First half

Ole Miss won the opening tip, but it was the Tigers striking first with two quick threes. Eventually, Malik Dia scored the opening bucket for Ole Miss and the Rebel defense began to pick up the energy. Ole Miss forced five turnovers out of the Tigers in the first three minutes. Sean Pedulla then got the Pavilion crowd going and on their feet with another steal and fastbreak score.

A triple from the hands of Jaemyn Brakefield gave Ole Miss an 8-6 lead just over three minutes in and the crowd erupted yet again, proving to be a huge difference-maker for the Rebels in the first half. Dia then added more after an Auburn miss but again it was Chad Baker-Mazara getting one to fall from deep to keep Auburn from falling into a scoring drought.

That’ll get the people going 👌@Jaemyn1 x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/0SgKD82II6

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) February 1, 2025

However, Pedulla came right back with another three of his own, a heat check that hit the bottom of the net and increased the Rebel lead to four. The Tigers then went on a 12-1 run after that Pedulla three, and Ole Miss failed to get a field goal for over six minutes of play.

Trailing 21-14, Dia finally ended the drought with a hard slam in transition, and shortly after Brakefield made it a just five-point Ole Miss deficit after a tough layup off the glass through contact.

Great ball movement finds @malikkdia for the flush#HottyToddy x #Culture pic.twitter.com/3keSLE4ooV

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) February 1, 2025

Ole Miss would get out of the shooting slump after that, playing through their senior leader in Brakefield as he entered double-digits midway through the first half. Still playing aggressively on defense, the Rebels began to poke the ball away from the Tigers regularly.

Brake has now reached double-figures in 14 games coming off the bench this season for the Rebs.@Jaemyn1 x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/uUg94IQBp0

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) February 1, 2025

After ending the scoring drought, the Rebels outscored the Tigers 11-9 over the next eight minutes of play, leading up to Pedulla hitting his second three of the game, a fadeaway triple that made it 29-32 with just over three minutes left in the half. Johni Broome then silenced the Pavilion crowd with an easy triple over Pedulla to once again give Auburn a cushion.

A timeout by Ole Miss came shortly after the Broome triple, and it was Matthew Murrell who answered immediately after the timeout with a three-pointer of his own. However, Broome and Denver Jones could not be stopped by the Rebel defense, knocking down back-to-back triples in the final 40 seconds of the half to help bring a 41-34 lead into the locker room.

Brakefield led the way for the Rebels at the break with 12 points, and Dia added seven more points along with three assists for the big man. Ole Miss struggled to shoot free ones at the charity stripe in the first half, shooting 10 but only making four of them.

Broome led the way for the Tigers at the break with 13 points and seven boards, draining two of Auburn’s eight first-half triples.

Second half

After several misses from both squads to begin the final half of play, Auburn jumped ahead by eight in a hurry with Baker-Mazara and Cardwell leading the way which they would do all half.

Davon Barnes then knocked down a few free throws and Pedulla found a rhythm early on to help Ole Miss come screaming back. A triple from Pedulla made it just a 44-43 Auburn lead, but it was Miles Kelly answering in a hurry with a three-ball of his own. The Tigers then went on an 8-0 run over the next minute to silence the Pavilion crowd.

BANG 💥@PedullaSean x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/dDVhZfWJNs

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) February 1, 2025

Pedulla scored 10 points in a hurry in the second half, proving to be the difference for the Rebels around the midway mark. After a 9-2 run led by Dia and Dre Davis, the Tigers once again made it a five-point deficit for the Rebels with the help of Cardwell and Kelly hitting tough shots once again.

Trailing 59-54 with around 10 minutes left to play, Mikeal Brown-Jones fought through contact for a bucket and the foul, and Jaylen ‘Juju’ Murray buried a free one of his own to make it just a one-point Auburn lead.

💪💪💪#HottyToddy x #Culture pic.twitter.com/g6PkGWLaTB

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) February 1, 2025

Despite visually struggling to maintain Broome, the defensive effort from the Rebels was there as the pesky on-ball play kept them in the game. Although missing 11 free throws on the day, the second half at the line was huge for Ole Miss as far as keeping them within arm’s reach, shooting 25 free ones and making 20 of them in the final half.

Again though, it was Baker-Mazara hitting his third and fourth triples of the day to give the Tigers some breathing room, a 68-60 lead that never seemed to get away from Auburn as the second half rolled on.

The game began to slow down as trips to the line became frequent in the final minutes of the game. The Rebels continued to struggle to box out Broome as the Auburn big man finished with six offensive boards and 12 in total, finding a way to switch onto smaller Ole Miss defenders all day.

Baker-Mazara and Cardwell carried the load for Auburn for most of the second half, combining for 22 of their 51 second-half points. With just under two minutes to play, Murrell drained a pair of free throws to make it a 79-75 game. However, it was Broome again playing bully ball and muscling his way into the paint to all but end this one in the waning minutes.

Ole Miss stayed within single digits of the Tigers, but missed opportunities at the free throw line and Auburn’s ability to drain three-point shots at will was too much for the Rebels to come back from. The Tigers shot 50 percent from three-point land, knocking down 14 of their 28 attempts on the way to victory.

The Rebels were outrebounded 41 to 30 in this one with Broome and Cardwell combining for 25 of those boards. The entire Auburn starting five contributed to the road win as every starter scored 10 or more points for the Tigers.

Pedulla led the way for the Rebels, scoring 21 second-half points and finishing with 29 for the game. Murrell added 17 more points for the Rebels as he still battles the injury bug according to Coach Beard. Brakefield added 12 of his own as well, tying the team-high in boards on the day with five.

Up next

Chris Beard and the Rebels will stay in Oxford heading into next week as they host yet another blueblood SEC opponent inside the SJB. On Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 6 pm CT, No.23 Ole Miss takes on No. 12 Kentucky.