Auburn basketball finally won a close game. Now the Tigers must build on it down the stretch

AUBURN — Before Auburn basketball topped Ole Miss in Neville Arena on Wednesday night, the Tigers were 2-6 in their previous eight games. And their five most recent defeats came by a combined 21 points. Simply put, they hung with every team but couldn't get over the hump and emerge from a tight contest with a win.

Coach Bruce Pearl attributed the lack of late-game success to his team's inability to get stops and get to the foul line: "We never even got into the bonus in the second half," Pearl said after Auburn's loss to Vanderbilt.

But the script flipped against the Rebels. The Tigers desperately needed a win over a subpar Ole Miss team, and midway through the second half, it was the visitors enjoying a 13-0 run to take the lead. Auburn eventually went back in front, but neither team held an advantage of more than six points in the game's final 12 minutes, and it took four consecutive free throws from Wendell Green Jr. to slam the door on the Rebels' upset bid.

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It was an ugly performance against an Ole Miss team that holds just two conference wins. But finally, Auburn proved capable of winning a close game.

"If you're sick of losing that much, you're going to try to do whatever it takes to win," said Green, who finished with 23 points. "... I'm personally sick of losing, so I knew I had to make those (free throws). My teammates, they had my back. They talked to me. They see me make free throws all the time. It was just routine to go up there and block out all the noise."

Pearl was happy to hear one of his leaders channeled his frustration into making winning plays, but the 17 offensive rebounds the Rebels grabbed and the 16 second-chance points they collected called for concern: "(Ole Miss) is strong, but Kentucky is bigger, stronger and more athletic. ... If we rebound like we did tonight, we’ll get beat by 40."

The Tigers have an incredibly difficult stretch to end the season. They travel to Rupp Arena to take on the Wildcats on Saturday, have a rematch with No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa on March 1 and finish with No. 13 Tennessee at Neville Arena on March 4.

Auburn's NCAA Tournament resume is a solid one. The Tigers don't have many bad losses − perhaps the 12-point defeat on the road at Georgia on Jan. 4 is the worst − but they also don't exactly have a season-defining win. Their best victory is likely a 13-point triumph over Arkansas on Jan. 7, or possibly the 43-42 win they enjoyed against Northwestern on Nov. 23.

Regardless, the remaining schedule presents an opportunity to score a signature win ahead of the SEC tournament.

"It's hard to beat all the teams you're supposed to beat," Pearl said. "And this team has come pretty close to that. Now, let's see if we can somehow play better down the stretch and beat some of the best teams on our schedule."

And should the Tigers find themselves in a close game down the stretch, they proved Wednesday they're capable of winning.

"We ended up getting to the free-throw line a lot," Green said. "That was the main thing Coach told us: At the end of games, we've got to stop fouling and (we have to) get to the free-throw line more. (It's an) automatic two points. I think we improved on that.

"Hopefully, we can keep improving on it down the road."

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: How Auburn basketball can build on the Ole Miss win, boost NCAA resume