Ole Miss Falls to Auburn, 78–66, as Tigers Pull Away Late

OXFORD, Miss. — The Ole Miss Rebels win streak was halted by the Auburn Tigers Tuesday night as the Rebels fell at home, 78-66, to the Tigers.

Auburn improves to 12-7 overall and 3-3 in the Southeastern Conference. Ole Miss falls to 11-8 and 3-3.

“It was a really disappointing night from our standpoint,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said after the game. “It was a wasted opportunity,” he added.

“I’ve never been a coach to throw the players under the bus but I’ve always been a coach to tell the truth,” Beard continued. “Tonight we got out-coached. We’ve got to put our guys in better positions offensively in the first half and defensively in the second half. I’m not saying we didn’t contribute to tonight’s defensive performance.

“On the other hand, we keep saying this is professional basketball in a lot of ways, so I think what will come with that over time, sooner rather than later, players will have to answer questions maybe they haven’t answered in the past. …We just had a lot of guys out there not playing at their most competitive, physical potential talent and game. And it’s disappointing.”

First Half

Ole Miss opened the game with possession, winning the tipoff; however, Auburn struck first as Keyshawn Hall converted on a second-chance rebound. Auburn held a 9-5 lead before a steal from Eduardo Klafke at the 16:40 mark predicated a Rebel timeout. Going into the timeout, Ole Miss had yet to record a rebound, trailing 8-0 in that category.

When play resumed, Ole Miss converted a mid-range shot to bring the score to within two, 9-7, largely in part to Auburn’s three-minute scoring drought which was ended as Filip Jovic made one of two free throws. However, the score stayed close as Travis Perry drilled a game-tying three with 13:34 left on the clock that knotted the game at 10-10.

The next two minutes were quiet as neither team recorded a field goal, but an on-the-floor foul committed by Malik Dia sent the game into a media timeout with Auburn ahead, 12-10, with 11:56 remaining in the half.

Ole Miss’ scoring drought continued until Patton Pinkins put it through the goal with a fadeaway jumper from the free throw line after just under three minutes of no baskets to cut the Auburn lead to 15-12. This was quickly followed by AJ Storr driving the lane and drawing a foul while making the fast break layup and converting the free throw, and Pinkins again scoring a jumper to knot the game at 17.

The game found a rhythm with Ole Miss taking a two-point lead before Auburn quickly went on a 6-0 run to give the Tigers a 23-19 lead heading into the final five minutes of the half.

A quick transition from the timeout to play to another media timeout with 3:39 left, saw Auburn extend their lead to 25-19 with Ole Miss still unable to find any consistency on the offensive end. Coming out of the timeout, Ole Miss finally had some production as a pair of free throws from Corey Chest — alongside some great defense and a big three from Travis Perry — swung some momentum in the direction of the Rebels making it a two point game, 26-24 in favor of Auburn, with 2:18 to go before halftime.

Heading into intermission, Ole Miss trailed 28-27 as Ilias Kamardine drilled a three and Ole Miss generated a defensive stop, before missing the half-court heave as time expired.

First half notables: Ole Miss struggled heavily on the glass in the first twenty, going into halftime trailing 23-16, with five of those 16 coming in the last two minutes of the half. Both teams struggled from the field, as the Tigers finished the half 9-of-27 from the field and 1-of-10 from three. However, the visitors held the advantage at the free throw line going 9-for-11. Ole Miss, on the other hand, went 10-for-30 from the field, 4-for-12 from three-point range, and converted all three free throw attempts.

Second Half

The first four-and-a-half minutes were evenly matched, but Auburn pushed the edge a little bit more, taking a 37-31 lead over the Rebels into the first media timeout. Over the next section of the game, Ole Miss kept on fighting but Auburn would not relinquish the lead as they stayed physical and patient on both ends of the floor.

The Tigers eventually pushed to their largest lead of the night of 11 with just under twelve minutes remaining, however the Rebels got a big three from Travis Perry to cut the lead to single digits. The Tigers responded quickly as Sebastian Williams-Adams put through a three of his own heading into a media timeout with Ole Miss trailing 51-40 with just 11:04 showing on the board.

The clock ticked under ten minutes and Auburn continued to hold a steady advantage over the Rebels, as Ole Miss trailed 44-52.

The game came to somewhat of a stand-still as over the course of the next few minutes, there were just two points recorded for each side. Out of the timeout the Tigers had two free throws, and made both to reinstate a double digit advantage, 48-58, with 7:42 remaining in the game.

Ole Miss once again made a push on the Tigers as the Rebels notched four field goals in a row to cut their deficit to seven, 66-59, with momentum in their favor into the under-five-minute media timeout.

Ole Miss came out with some urgency, applying a full court press, and finding a new wave of physicality, drawing a defensive stop and a foul before converting both free throws to make it a one possession game with 3:25 remaining and the Rebels trailing, 66-63.

However, the Tigers stayed resilient as Tahaad Pettiford drilled an and-one, mid-range jump shot and finished the three point play at the line, making it a 69-63 game in favor of the Tigers.  Ole Miss continued to push, but Pettiford had the ball in transition putting through a major slam on the Rebels’ defense that pushed Auburn’s lead to 71-64 with 1:35 to go in the contest.

Ole Miss responded with a two of its own, and quickly following they spent their final timeout of the game with 1:23 on the clock, down 66-71. Ultimately, however, Auburn scored the final seven points of the game to secure the 78-66 victory.

Notables

• AJ Storr led Ole Miss with 18 points and is now averaging 22 points over the past four games.
• Travis Perry connected on five makes from three, tying his career-best set earlier this season against NC State.
• With 15 points vs. Auburn, freshman Patton Pinkins has hit double figures in the scoring column in eight games, including four SEC matches.

A Look Ahead

Ole Miss will hit the road to face off against Kentucky on Saturday, January 24, at 11 a.m. in Rupp Arena and broadcast on ESPN.