It was a turnaround for the ages. One of the worst starts of the season turned into one of Auburn's best-ever comebacks.

Trailing by 19 early in the second half, the 17th-ranked Tigers stormed back to beat Ole Miss 83-82 at The Pavilion in double overtime, the third-biggest comeback in program history.

Auburn improves to 18-2 overall and 5-2 in the SEC with only its second win in the last 11 trips to Oxford.

“What an amazing comeback. Adversity reveals character. I thought our team showed a lot of character and a lot of heart. I think those seniors didn’t quit,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl told the Auburn Network.

Auburn started 0 of 11 from 3-point range before Anfernee McLemore drained one from long range with 35 seconds left in the first half. It gave the Tigers a spark going into a second half in which they out-scored the Rebels 46-29. AU had runs of 10-0, 12-0 and 8-0 after the break.

The Tigers missed potential game-winning 3-pointers at the end of regulation and the first overtime period before taking the lead in the second overtime on a layup and foul shot by Isaac Okoro to put AU up 83-82 with 1:41 left. Ole Miss missed a 3-pointer to end the game.

“The seniors. every time we were in the huddle or at halftime, they said to keep our head up, ‘We’re still in this game. We’re not hitting shots but we’re going to hit shots in the second half,’ and that’s what we did,” freshman Isaac Okoro told the Auburn Network.

Auburn shot just 6 of 28 (21.4 percent) from the floor and 1 of 12 from beyond the arc in the first half and had 10 turnovers. AU scored just 20 first-half points, the lowest output since being held to 19 by Clemson in a 2018 NCAA Tournament loss.

It was a completely different story in the second half and overtime as the Tigers shot 18 of 35 (51.4 percent) from the floor and 8 of 18 from 3-point range. AU out-rebounded OM 45-33

“Bruce just wanted us to be aggressive, attack the rim, just get to the free throw line and make our free throws,” said Okoro, who had 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.

McLemore led AU with 19 points, tying his career high, before fouling out in the first overtime. He added five rebounds and three steals, shooting 5 of 10 from 3-point range.

"Anfernee McLemore really got things started because he made some big shots when we were way down. And just played, steals, and played so hard. He was very effective defensively too,” Pearl said.

Samir Doughty scored all 17 of his points in the second half and overtime while J’Von McCormick had 12 points, four rebounds and three steals. Danjel Purifoy added 13 points and five rebounds. McCormick, with nine, and Doughty, with three, combined for 12 turnovers, however.

Auburn has now started a combined 1 of 46 from 3-point range in four SEC road games including 0 of 12 at Mississippi State, 0 of 10 at Alabama and 1 of 13 at Florida.

The Tigers held the SEC’s leading scorer, Breein Tyree, to eight points on 2 of 8 shooting. The senior fouled out in the second half. Ole Miss didn’t have a field goal the final 5:32 of regulation and didn’t score a point the final 3:04 of the second overtime.

Auburn returns home to face No. 13 Kentucky Saturday at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN.