A valiant performance by No. 23 Ole Miss in front of the third-largest home crowd in program history fell just short against the nation’s top-ranked team, Auburn, on Saturday afternoon.
Ole Miss (16-5, 5-4 SEC) led an effort that both Rebel head coach Chris Beard and Auburn frontman Bruce Pearl lauded as one that was good enough to win the ballgame. But a dominant showing by the Tigers’ big men paired with efficient three-point shooting was too much for the home team to overcome.
Rebel students gathered outside the SJB Pavilion in droves on Friday night and camped out beside the venue in anticipation of the top-25 matchup. The outcome may not have been the audience’s preferred result. However, the atmosphere generated by a high-powered affair between two heavyweights was one that made Oxford appear to be a rising star in college basketball ambiances.
Ole Miss reported a total of 9,974 fans in attendance for the game. The SJB Pavilion’s capacity is 9,500.
Game Recap
Chad Baker-Mazara and Myles Kelly knocked down a triple each to put Auburn up early. Ole Miss stormed back, forcing five Tiger turnovers and capitalizing on the miscues to take a 13-9 lead with 15:32 on the clock. But a lengthy scoring drought by the home team as Auburn cleaned up its turnover problem enabled Pearl’s squad to reclaim its advantage on the scoreboard.
Auburn led 21-14 with 9:43 left in the half, forcing Ole Miss to play catch-up for the remainder of the period. The Rebels stole some momentum back by breaking down the Tigers’ press and finding Malik Dia for a dunk to get the crowd going once more.
Johni Broome hit a rare triple to put the Tigers up by seven as the final two minutes of the half approached. Matthew Murrell countered with a triple and Jaemyn Brakefield landed a layup to put Ole Miss within one point with one minute on the clock.
A successful pair of Tiger triples, one by Denver Jones and the other by Broome, led Auburn to halftime with a 41-34 lead.
Then the Sean Pedulla show began for Ole Miss. A successful three-point basket by the Rebel guard put Ole Miss within one point of its conference counterpart with 16:16 left of action. Auburn countered with an immediate 8-0 run to thwart the Rebels’ progress.
Pedulla scored the Rebels’ next five points to keep the contest within reach versus an Auburn team known for its disciplined play. Nonetheless, the Tigers had a successful response for just about every Rebel bucket in the half.
Jaylen Murray got to the charity stripe with a chance to knot things up with 8:05 on the clock but missed one of the two guaranteed shots, and that’s as close as Ole Miss would get to Auburn on the scoreboard for the remainder of the afternoon.
Jones was successful from deep to put the Tigers up by nine with 2:51 left in the contest, effectively putting the game out of reach for the home team. Efforts by Ole Miss, specifically Pedulla and Murrell, were resilient until the bitter end, but just not enough. Auburn walked away a 92-82 road victor in what Pearl dubbed “the toughest road win” for his team this year.
Top Performers
Auburn had five players with double figures on the scoreboard in Saturday’s outing, and Broome was the star that shined brightest. The big man, who is inarguably one of the best players in the country, had 20 points and 12 rebounds. Broome shot 50% from the field and was a perfect 2-2 from behind the arc.
Baker-Mazara had 18 points in the matchup and was 4-6 from three. Dylan Cardwell was a force down low for the Tigers, grabbing 13 boards and scoring 20 points.
Pedulla was hands down the Rebels’ top performer, mounting a team-best 29 points, five rebounds, and three steals. The Virginia Tech transfer largely willed his team offensively in the second half to keep the contest competitive. Murrell was Ole Miss’ second-leading scorer with 17 points.
Deciding Factor
Auburn’s 50% three-point shooting night was the most impactful element of the game from a points perspective. The Tigers had 42 points from deep compared to 18 from the Rebels.
Inefficient free throw shooting plagued Ole Miss all afternoon. The Rebels found themselves at the charity stripe 35 times but missed 11 of those shots in a game that was decided by 10 points.
Rebounding played to the Rebels’ disadvantage as the Tigers hauled in 11 more boards. Auburn’s big men, Broome and Cardwell, were too big and physical for a smaller Ole Miss team to defeat on the glass.
Ole Miss, as always, attempted to make up for this disparity by winning the turnover battle. Though the Rebels accomplished that feat, Auburn had just one fewer point off of giveaways despite coughing the ball up three more times.
Coach’s Comments
Beard did not hesitate to contend that his team had a fighting chance until the bitter end. According to the Ole Miss head coach, the difference between who won and who lost today was that Auburn effectively countered every positive Rebel moment and rose to the occasion with the game on the line.
Beard was optimistic about what he saw from his group on Saturday and has high hopes that they can not only go toe-to-toe with some of the league’s juggernauts but also win those games when the NCAA Tournament comes rolling around. Ole Miss showed this early in conference play when the Rebels ousted No. 4 Alabama by double-digits on the road.
“Our guys were going to have to play really hard and believe they could win — and we did. Mission accomplished. And we were going to have to play well. Tonight, when there were some things that we could have controlled better that we didn’t get done, what do teams like Auburn do? They make you pay,” Beard said.
“They make big shots in big moments. They make big plays in big moments. I think our team has the ability to do that. It’s early February. I think we can play with teams like this right now. I know we can. So, we’ll just keep working toward where we can beat teams like these in March.”
Auburn’s 10th-year head coach, Pearl, touted what Beard is building in Oxford, noting that he sees some similarities between what is happening in Oxford with his first two years with the Tigers’ program.
“Chris Beard has raised the bar. Look at his staff. He has one of the best staffs in college basketball — period. Those guys who are with him are unbelievable. The guys that they are recruiting, those are the guys I am recruiting, and then some. There are a bunch of guys on that team that we tried to get,” Pearl said.
“Chris Beard has elevated everything. He’s got a high expectation. I know he’s disappointed because he expected to win this game. He didn’t care where we were ranked. He’s going to be in the upper division of this league every year.”
Next Up
Ole Miss will welcome No. 12 Kentucky to Oxford on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be aired on ESPN and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
