AUBURN — Bruce Pearl remembers the Ole Miss game on Jan. 9 well.

Auburn entered SEC play with an 11-2 non-conference record, with losses by six and seven to Duke and N.C. State. The Tigers traveled to Oxford, Miss., for its first true SEC road test of the season. The Rebels held them to 67 points. Auburn shot just 22-of-67 from the floor. They Tigers turned the ball over 16 times. Ole Miss got to the free-throw line 37 compared to only 17 for Auburn.

Pearl credited it to being "outplayed" and "outcoached."

"So far, through 10 SEC games, nobody's played us better than Ole Miss," Pearl said Tuesday. "We are a better basketball team, probably in every way, which is positive."

Auburn's struggles in SEC play haven't been in Auburn Arena. The Tigers return to their comfort zone for this revenge game against the Rebels who jumpstarted Auburn's 1-4 road record in conference play.

In the Jan. 9 matchup, Terence Davis led the way with 27 points and 12 boards. Breein Tyree had one of his less productive nights of the season, but has been a standout for Ole Miss outside of that game, averaging 18.5 points per game this season.

Those are the two Ole Miss players Bruce Pearl highlighted as the must-contain guys Wednesday.

"They’ve got a tremendous duo in Tyree and Davis. Those guys are third and sixth in the league in scoring. They account for like 44 percent of their offense," Pearl said. "They run stuff that’s hard to guard. Nobody will move faster in their offense than Ole Miss. They are really, really fast."

Auburn comes into this game 16-7 overall and 5-5 in SEC play, most recently a tough road defeat against LSU.

In that loss, Auburn's lack of length and physicality were placed into the spotlight yet again. LSU collected 22 offensive rebounds, turning it into 29 second-chance points and flipping a 16-point first-half deficit on its head.

Auburn big man Horace Spencer said that has to be the point of emphasis against a scrappy Ole Miss team.

"I feel like we need to just focus on defense, you know, let that be our main focal point and just be able to rebound — defensive rebound, get offensive rebounds, second-chance points and just focus on working on our ball-screen defense and really focus on defense," Spencer said. "Offense will take care of itself, so that’s not really our main problem; it’s trying to defend and rebound that’s our main focus."

The Tigers have operated smoothly inside Auburn Arena this season. Auburn's only defeat came by two points to a Kentucky squad who started to hit its midseason stride. Even then, only a sluggish second-half start forced the Tigers into a 17-point comeback, which nearly occurred.

Auburn's next three are at home against Ole Miss, on the road at a struggling Vanderbilt and back home against an underperforming Arkansas.

Wednesday against the Rebels is a crucial starting point to a promising three-game stretch.

Some of those length and physicality questions will be answered by a key piece: Austin Wiley.

Wiley continues to work through a lower leg injury that caused him to miss time. He has since slowed his way into the rotation. Wiley has been practicing, alternating between full and light days.

The injury, per Pearl, is not at risk of becoming worse, but pain still exists. Pearl remains hopeful Wiley will eventual return to his role with this team and produce some of the best basketball of his Auburn career. Specifics for expected minutes for the Ole Miss game were not provided.

"He went as long and as hard yesterday as he has in about a week and a half, and I’m very curious to see how he feels. It was also one of those injuries where he would feel it even after it was healed and better. And since he still feels it, there’s that reluctance to really, really push on it," Pearl said. "My anticipation is he’s going to continue to play a little more every time out. Now today, he’ll go light so that he can have an opportunity to go tomorrow. It’s difficult when you’re in a back half stretch of an SEC season to get back in a form when you’re playing for your NCAA Tournament lives and your positioning in the field. ... He’s got to be somewhat frustrated that he’s not 100-percent healthy right now. He’s going to be. We’ve just got to work our way through this. I still think it could happen this year. I’m way more frustrated for him than I am for us, because he has gone through a lot."