Ole Miss fights hard against No. 1-seed Auburn in SEC tourney before falling, 62-57; Rebels projected a 5-seed in the NCAA tourney
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After a thrilling 83-80 win over Arkansas in the second round of the men’s SEC men’s basketball tournament, Ole Miss faced No. 1-seed Auburn Friday at high noon. The Rebels fought hard but fell to Bruce Pearl and the Tigers, 62-57.
Ole Miss now awaits the Selection Show on Sunday to determine where the team will head for the NCAA tournament. Joe Lunardi now has the Rebels projected as a 5-seed in the tourney.
Coach Beard was proud of his team’s effort. “Good hard-fought game,” the Rebels’ head coach said after the game.
“Congratulate Auburn on the victory. Defensive game, easy baskets were hard to find throughout the game. If we hold Auburn to 62 points, we should have a chance to win the game and we did. I thought we played some good defense today. Defensive, tough game. Basketball is about making shots….today is a game we needed to make 9 or 10 threes, mathematically how the game was set up. For us to shoot 17 percent from the three-point line, most of those were good looks…if we make a couple of more shots, rebound, we win the game. Congratulations to Auburn. We wish those guys the best of luck here in Nashville and in the national tournament.“
Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard after loss to Auburn
First-half action
Ole Miss set the pace by scoring first, but Auburn quickly showed their competitiveness, and at the first TV timeout, the game was tied at six points apiece. The Rebs emerged from the timeout with Malik Dia adding two more points.
Malik Dia goes to WORK@malikkdia x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/U5F0fvgwLa
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) March 14, 2025
Auburn’s next two possessions didn’t yield any points, and Jaemyn Brakefield’s three-further extended the Rebs’ lead to 11-6 over Auburn. But Tigers’ star Johni Broome managed to score one of two free throws, bringing the score to 11-7, Ole Miss. A turnover by the Rebels allowed Auburn to score on transition to cut it to a two-point Ole Miss lead. Both teams committed turnovers and went into the media timeout with the Rebs leading 11-9.
After the media timeout, neither team could score on its first possession. Auburn went into the paint to Broome for two and tied the game at 11; the Tiger defense tightened down and caused the Rebs to commit a shot-clock violation. Auburn went to Broome, yet again, and the Tigers took the lead for the first time in the game, 13-11.
A foul by Denver Jones of Auburn allowed Ole Miss to reset the Rebel offense, and Davon Barnes sunk a three-pointer. Again, Auburn went to Broome, who was fouled and went to the line, making both free throws.
Ole Miss committed a turnover and Auburn scored on a rebound putback by Ja’Heim Hudson. Matthew Murrell was then fouled on his shot and made both free throws. A foul committed by Ole Miss led to the next media timeout.
Auburn’s possession out of the timeout saw the Tigers fail to score. Dia collected the rebound for the Rebels, but Ole Miss was unable to score on a failed three-point attempt. Auburn’s Broome does what he does; although he was shut down, he found an outlet for Hudson who scored two.
The Rebs were unable to score on their next three possessions, allowing Auburn to increase the lead to 22-16. At 4:10 left in the half, JuJu Murray connected for two. Broome rebounded the Tigers’ missed shot and he was fouled on his attempt, going to the line where he was 2-2.
The Rebels were unable to convert on their next possession and Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford hit a three. Ole Miss then lost the ball on a turnover; however, an Auburn turnover and subsequent foul by Hudson put Ole Miss in the bonus and sent Murray to the line where he made both free throws, making the Auburn lead 27-20.
A miss by Auburn and a scramble for the ball by both teams led to an Ole Miss recovery and a Pedulla layup that made it 27-22, Tigers.
Auburn was unable to score on its next possession, and the Rebels moved the ball around the court, eventually going to Murray who missed from the field. Auburn then went down and scored, and an Ole Miss missed shot from half-court ended the first half of play with the Tigers leading the Rebels, 29-22.
Ole Miss struggled to hit shots in the first half, going 27% (7-26) from the field. At intermission, Auburn was shooting 36%, going 10-28.
The Rebels were 3-15 from long-range in the first half, while Auburn went 3-12, 25%.
Second-half action
Auburn began the second half with Broome scoring two. Then, Ole Miss got to work with a turnover and a Murray-jumper in the paint, a jumper from Pedulla, and a layup from Dre Davis that cut the Auburn lead to 31-28.
Points Off Turnovers 😤@Jaemyn1 + Juju the takeaway@DAndreDavis + the foul#HottyToddy x #Culture pic.twitter.com/tJTqLMHALV
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) March 14, 2025
As would happen much of the game, the Rebels would get close and Auburn would turn things up a notch. Miles Kelly would hit two consecutive shots, a jumper and a three pointer, to give the Tigers a 36-28 lead over Ole Miss.
Later, a foul by Pedulla would lead to the first media timeout of the half, with Auburn holding a 38-30 advantage over Ole Miss.
On the inbound, Auburn moved the ball and eventually turned it over on a shot clock violation. Ole Miss’ Dia hit a three as the buzzer sounded to make it 38-33, Tigers.
Malik stays calm and buries the three 👌@malikkdia x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/C74FdQLpML
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) March 14, 2025
Chad Baker-Mazara returned the favor for Auburn, making it 41-33 in favor of the No. 1 seed Tigers.
Brakefield’s two on the other end was followed by Auburn’s miss and rebound by Broome, and another turnover occurred and a foul gave Ole Miss the ball. A miss by Ole Miss and subsequent two by Broome made the score 43-35.
The Rebels kept fighting. Davis responded for Ole Miss with a three-pointer and Auburn took the ball down court going to Broome, who missed, and Auburn could not secure the rebound. A tie ball on the Ole Miss end allowed the Rebels to maintain possession, though Pedulla missed the shot.
A steal by Pedulla allowed the Rebel guard to score two on the ensuing layup, cutting it to 45-39, Auburn.
Sean takes it the other way 💨
Our 285th steal of the season, tied for 3rd most in school history@PedullaSean x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/0jijuGMy6q
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) March 14, 2025
A foul put the Tigers on the line shooting headed into the next media timeout. Broome went to the line after the media timeout, where he made one of two.
Pedulla took the Rebels up the court, where Murray found Davis, who was fouled on the shot. Davis made one of two to make the Tiger lead six points at 46-40.
A foul by Barnes gave Auburn a new shot clock but, they committed a shot clock violation that gave the Rebels the ball. Ole Miss inbounded the ball, and Murray led the Rebs down, where Pedulla scored two on a layup to cut the Tigers’ lead to 46-42.
A turnover by Auburn and a foul on Murray, as he went down the floor with the steal, was followed by Barnes inbounding the ball, leading to Davis scoring two on a jumpshot that cut the Auburn lead to 46-44 with 9:03 to play in the game.
💪💪💪@DAndreDavis x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/SIwUlVkBoT
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) March 14, 2025
Auburn took the ball down the court and missed the resulting shot. The ball was rebounded by Dia and Auburn’s Dylan Cardwell was called for over the back, much to the disliking of the Auburn crowd in attendance. Ole Miss was unable to capitalize on the opportunity.
The teams exchanged possessions, with both coming up empty. A foul by Murray took the game into its next timeout, with Auburn leading Ole Miss 46-44 with 7:29 left in the game.
A foul by Davis soon put Auburn in the bonus, and Broome was on the line where he missed the first. Ole Miss took the rebound down the court where Baker-Mazara fouled Pedulla. Murrell inbounded the ball to Pedulla, who took the ball quickly to the paint and scored two points from a layup that tied the game at 46.
After a couple of empty possessions, Chaney Johnson scored three for the Tigers to make it 49-46, Auburn.
Brakefield was fouled at the 4:24 mark, and went to the line where he hit one of two, making the Auburn lead two points, 49-47.
A score by Broome with an and-one opportunity from a foul from Pedulla meant Broome would go to the line with 4:09 left in the game and the score 51-47. The score remained 52-47 as the next media timeout came around.
After an empty possession for the Rebels, Auburn inbounded the ball with 3:56 left in the game with a 5-point lead. The Rebels put pressure on the ball, but Broome scored two inside.
Murrell’s miss on the other end was followed by a foul by him on Auburn. The call was reviewed to determine if the foul occurred on the shot. It was ruled (questionably) that it indeed did. The basket was good, and Jones went to the line where he made the shot, giving Auburn a 10-point lead, 57-47, with 3 minutes left to play.
But Ole Miss wouldn’t quit. Barnes was fouled as he went to the goal at the 2:54 mark. He made both free throws to cut it to 57-49. A trap by the Rebels was unsuccessful, but a steal by Dia and the resulting two points cut the Auburn lead to six at 57-51 with 2:34 to go in the game.
Broome missed from three on the ensuing Tiger possession, but the Rebels were unable to score. A scramble for the ball left Auburn’s Baker-Mazara headed down the court for a layup and foul, and he indeed made the free throw to complete the three-point play that gave the Tigers a 60-51 lead with 1:34 to go.
Dia was fouled by Broome on the ensuing possession, and went to the free throw line to shoot two. Both were good and that cut the Auburn lead to 60-53 with 1:19 left in the game. Pedulla then made things exciting as he stole the ball and made a layup that cut the Auburn lead to five, 60-55 with 1:13 to go.
With just 38 seconds to go in the game, Murray was fouled hit both free throws and Ole Miss trailed Auburn by just three, 60-57.
As he does time and again, however, for the Tigers, Broome’s jumper with 11 seconds to go gave Auburn a 62-57 lead, and that’s where the game ended.
After the game, Dre Davis talked about his team’s defensive performance.
“I think it was just a different level of focus coming into the game. Understanding we wanted to make a run and win this tournament. I think it was just a different level of focus and intensity coming into the game, being locked in on what we said we was going to do. I feel like for the most part we did that. We had some slip-ups here and there. I think for the most part we stuck to the game plan and did what we said we were going to do.“
Dre Davis
By the numbers:
Ole Miss had four players who finished in double digits. Sean Pedulla and Dre Davis each scored 12 points for Ole Miss. Malik Dian and JuJu Murray each notched 10. Brakefield finished with six, while Davon Barnes added five and Matt Murrell added two.
For the Tigers, Broome scored 23, while Jones added 13. Kelly finished with 9, while Baker-Mazara tallied 7. Pettiford scored 5, Johnson 3, and Hudson 2.
Ole Miss finished shooting 38% (20-53), while the Tigers were 45% (23-51). The Rebs shot just 17% from three (4-23), while the Tigers were at 29% (6-21).
As expected, Auburn won the rebounding battle 38-28. The Tigers recorded 28 defensive rebounds to Ole Miss’ 21.
The two teams tied with 26 points each in the paint. Ole Miss scored 12 fast break points, while Auburn scored two.
Notables
- The Ole Miss defense held Auburn to just 29 first half points, marking just the fourth time this season the Tigers have scored less than 30 in a first half. Auburn entered today’s contest 5th in the NCAA in scoring offense averaging 40.1 points in the first half this season.
- Ole Miss came away with 10 steals surpassing 285 for the season. The 290 steals on the season is now the third most in school history for a single season.
- The Rebels made four three-pointers on the afternoon reaching 272 made 3s on the year, good for the fourth most in school history for a single season.
Next Up:
The Rebels now wait for their seeding in the tournament. Coach Beard talked about the postseason after the loss to Auburn and what his team needs to do.
“We tell the players we want to be us. Why? Because us is pretty good. We’re one of the best teams in the country. We’re going to get a nice seed, at-large bid in the tournament. Let’s not show up to the NCAA tournament and be somebody we’re not. Let’s be the best version of us… Secondly, we want to have some fun along the way. Yeah, it’s a business trip, no doubt about it.”
Coach Beard on the Rebels’ postseason
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship selection show is set for this coming Sunday, March 16 at 5:00 p.m. CT on CBS.
As for Beard and his team, it will be a business trip wherever they land, but they are going to soak it all in for as long as it lasts.
“Let’s enjoy every practice, shoot-around, bus trip, the camaraderie, the hotels, the meals,” Coach Beard said Friday.
“We’re going to smell the roses, as we call it. That’s always been our plan in March. Sounds simple, but to me that’s the way to do it… Our timeouts (against Auburn), we got guys smiling with joy, ‘we got a chance, let’s go try to win this game.’ That’s always been our message in March and will be this week, as well.“
Chris Beard on his team’s plans as they prepare for March Madness
Donna Sprabery
Donna Sprabery is a former teacher, graduation coach, and academic coach for boys basketball. She graduated from the University of West Alabama with a major in business education and from Arkansas State University with a MA in Educational Leadership. A native of Meridian, MS, Donna enjoys traveling, gardening, writing, volunteer work, and cheering on the Rebels.
