AUBURN | A furious Auburn rally in the final few minutes came up just short as TJ Lang’s 3-pointer bounced off the front of the rim as time expired, giving Ole Miss an 88-85 win at the Auburn Arena.
The loss drops Auburn to 10-5 overall and 0-3 in the SEC.
“They made big shots,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “For them to shoot 12-of-27 from the three was pretty darn significant and the reason why they won the game. Score 85 points, you should win a lot of college basketball games but Ole Miss made shots. They made big plays. They’re a veteran team.
“This is going to be a grind. This league is very evenly matched. Teams that win that get too happy, will lose and teams that lose and get too deflated, that will contribute to losing as well.”
The Rebels led by 10 with 3:47 left before Jared Harper connected with T.J. Dunans on an alley-oop to spark an 11-2 run as the Tigers closed it to 76-75 with 1:55 remaining.
Ole Miss followed with four-straight free throws, which were followed by five-straight free throws by Harper to tie the game 80-80 with 1:02 left.
Auburn forced three turnovers during the run.
“We all saw tonight how effective our press can be,” Pearl said. “You have to press regardless of time and score like sharks reacting to blood in the water. When you’re down and it’s late, that’s how you press. We should press that way all the time.”
Rasheed Brooks then drained a clutch 3-pointer to put the Rebels back on top and they made 6-of-7 free throws in the final 26 seconds to seal the win.
Auburn held a 36-26 rebounding edge over the SEC’s top rebounding team but the Tigers shot just 38.5 percent from the floor in the second half while the Rebels shot 56.0, making 8-of-15 3-pointers after the break.
Harper led Auburn with 24 points before fouling out with 19 seconds left. The freshman scored 18 of his 24 in the second half making 2-of-6 from beyond the arc and 14-of-17 free throws.
“Our goals are still the same that they’ve always been,” Harper said. “Everything is not going to be perfect throughout the season. We didn’t think we were going to go undefeated. Maybe we didn’t think we’d go 0-3 but we’re accepting that and going into practice with clear minds getting ready to play Missouri.”
Mustapha Heron added 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Ronnie Johnson had 12 points while Austin Wiley had seven points and nine rebounds.
Auburn had to play the entire second half without Danjel Purifoy, who injured his ankle late in the first half. He finished with six points, three rebounds and two steals.
“Losing Danjel was tough. He’s an important part of our scheme,” Pearl said. “It’s a pretty good sprain. I’d say there’s a pretty good chance he’s out (for Missouri).”
Dunans sat out the first half for an undisclosed reason and finished with five points.
Ole Miss had six players in double-figures led by Deandre Burnett with 18. Sebastian Saiz had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Auburn returns to action Tuesday at Missouri. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. CT and the game will be carried on the SEC Network.
“We’ll get ready for Missouri,” Pearl said. “We’ll get ready every night, and we’re laying a foundation.”
