Cameron Larkin
Ole Miss took Auburn to the brink of a catastrophic upset, but the Tigers eventually pulled out a much-needed conference win. Auburn took advantage of its home-court advantage as the Tiger faithful packed out Neville Arena.
There were stretches in this game where Ole Miss played its best offense of the season. Matthew Murrell led Ole Miss with 23 points, followed by Myles Burns, who put up 14 points to go along with six steals.
James White chipped in a very efficient 13 points off the bench, something the Rebels have been missing for most of this season. White shot 55% from the field while burying both of his three-point attempts.
What helped the Rebels stay in this game was their free throws. Ole Miss slowed the game down by getting to the line; the team shot a total of 32 free throws. Unfortunately, the free throw misses are a big reason why Ole Miss lost this game.
The final score ended up being 78-74, and the Rebels missed 12 free throws.
Coming into this game, Ole Miss had an excellent opportunity to put Auburn’s March Madness hopes to rest.
In an interview after Auburn’s last-second loss to Vanderbilt, the Tiger’s head coach Bruce Pearl said, “A loss (to Ole Miss) can do us almost irreparable damage because of just the math.”
Pearl and his team knew they could not slip up against the struggling yet feisty Ole Miss Rebels. There were multiple times throughout this game where it looked like Auburn would run away with it, but Ole Miss exhausted every one of its resources on offense and defense to keep this game within reach.
Ole Miss wanted this game badly. The Rebels cherish any opportunity to spoil another team’s postseason hopes, but the better team won at the end of the day.
Auburn’s junior guard Wendell Green Jr. led the way with an explosive 23 points, comfortably surpassing his season average of just under 14 points per game. Johni Broome added 19 points and tallied a monstrous six blocks.
Overall, Ole Miss played a solid game. The Rebels had many chances to put Auburn away, and the fans will be frustrated that this wound up being another loss, but the bigger picture shows that Ole Miss has improved over the last two games.
In its recent narrow losses to Mississippi State and now Auburn, Ole Miss looked exponentially better than it has all season long.
Next up for the Rebels is the LSU Tigers, who stand below the Rebels in the SEC standings. The game is on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. CST in the SJB Pavilion. The game will air on the SEC Network. As Ole Miss looks to break a lengthy home SEC losing streak, tune in or show up to support the Rebels.
