The No. 22 Ole Miss men’s basketball team was outright dominated by No. 13 Auburn in a Saturday night game in Neville Arena.
In a match where Auburn shot nearly 60% from the floor and 44% from behind the arc, just about everything went right for the Tigers (16-2, 5-0 SEC) while the Rebels (15-3, 2-3 SEC) had arguably their worst overall performance of the season.
Ole Miss shot field goals at 37% and triples at a low 24%. The teams were practically even in rebounding and turnovers, but shooting was the key difference with the advantage going to the home team.
A game that was once tied 9-9 at the 16:48 mark in the first half quickly got away from the Rebels. While Ole Miss remained relatively competitive, keeping things within reach for the next 10 minutes, Auburn closed out the half strong to hold a 46-27 lead at the intermission.
The second half was all Auburn. The Tigers went on an 18-7 run in the first eight minutes to take a 64-36 lead and never looked back. Ole Miss trailed by as many as 35 in the contest, but the team continued to fight, constant errors aside.
A 13-6 run by the Rebels in the final 5:30 of action gave the team a little momentum to close out the game making the score look a little more respectable. Nonetheless, a steal forced by Ole Miss in the final seconds of the match resulted in three blocks by players wearing Auburn jerseys as the clock hit 0:00 with the Tigers up 82-59.
There was a great disparity on the scoreboard, but not one Auburn player had a remarkably better performance than his peers. The Tigers scored by committee with 12 players reaching the scoreboard.
Allen Flanigan led Ole Miss with 10 points in his debut against his former team. However, it was not his best night as he was just 3-10 from the floor. 7-foot-5 center Jamarion Sharp led Ole Miss in rebounding with eight boards.
Despite a 13-0 start to the season, the Rebels have begun to face the harsh reality of an SEC and have lost their last three road contests.
Ole Miss will return home to take on Arkansas on Wednesday at 8 p.m. central.
