Ole Miss basketball comeback attempt falls short, Rebels lose at Auburn
Ole Miss basketball just won’t quit. And it won’t stop breaking the hearts of those who follow it as a result.
The Rebels suffered another brutal blow on Wednesday when they put a fright into Auburn on the road, undoing a 12-point deficit to take the lead before ultimately succumbing, 78-74.
"I'm proud of our team," Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis said. "They keep fighting the good fight. Like I told them, there's a conference tournament at the end. We're going to be a tough out."
Ole Miss still has not beaten a top-100 KenPom foe since a win over Stanford on Thanksgiving, and the Rebels have lost 15 of their last 17 overall.
The defeat gives the Tigers (19-8, 9-6 SEC) the season sweep over the Rebels (10-18, 2-13), marking the second SEC program to beat Ole Miss twice this season along with Mississippi State.
Rebels erase double-digit deficit
A blowout beckoned as Auburn opened the second half with a trio of 3-pointers in less than three minutes, extending what had been a seven-point halftime lead to 12.
It would have been consistent with how Ole Miss has played on the road at times this season to fold there. Instead, the Rebels put together one of their best stretches of the campaign.
They held Auburn without a field goal for over five minutes, and four different Rebels scored within that time period as Ole Miss embarked on a 13-2 run, and led by four with 6:21 to play.
"Great in transition," Davis said of his team during that stretch. "I thought we shared the ball well."
Auburn's response was swift. Wendell Green Jr. and Johni Broome keyed an 11-1 run over 2:24 that put the Tigers in front to stay. Ole Miss cut the lead to one with 14 seconds to go, but Auburn executed well thereafter.
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Finding a way to lose
Ole Miss' offense wasn't as ineffective as it has been at times since the beginning of conference play. The Rebels were competitive with the Tigers from beyond the arc, making 6-of-18 attempts from range.
They got double-figure scoring nights from Myles Burns and James White, and Matthew Murrell turned in his best game since returning from a knee injury suffered at Arkansas in mid-January with 22 points.
But the Rebels just couldn't get the execution they needed down the stretch. They didn't make a field goal from the 6:21 mark until there were 25 seconds remaining.
"That was just college basketball," Davis said. "(Murrell), our best player, had two right at the rim that he missed."
Up next
Ole Miss heads back home to take on LSU on Saturday (7:30 p.m., SEC Network). The Tigers (13-15, 2-13) are coming off a home win over Vanderbilt.
David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss basketball comeback attempt falls short, Rebels lose at Auburn
