AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn (9-5, 0-1) fell in the SEC opener to No. 25 Ole Miss (10-3, 1-0) 85-58 inside Neville Arena on Thursday night. The injury-plagued Tigers battled but were unable to keep up with the Rebels.
The first few minutes of the game were competitive before Ole Miss went on a 22-4 run to close out the first quarter. From then on, the Rebels held a commanding lead. Auburn failed to muster a substantial run to tighten the gap.
“When you get in a hole like that, and trying to come back, it’s really tough,” Auburn associate head coach Fred Williams said.
Ole Miss’s defense, one of the best in the nation held Auburn in check Thursday night. Ole Miss forced 29 Auburn turnovers. The Rebels also only allowed 20 first-half points leading 45-20 at halftime.
“They came out and jumped on us,” Williams said. “They ran on our turnovers and they were able to convert.”
Auburn found a little more success in the second half, scoring 38 but not enough to overcome the deficit. A large reason for Auburn’s limited success in the second half was the production from forward DeYona Gaston who scored 30 points on 14-17 shooting. The Tigers were still without star guard Taliah Scott, making scoring even more difficult.
“I thought, you know, as far as the energy standpoint, we kept at it trying to get ourselves closer and closer,” Williams said. “I think close to about 16 or 17 there towards the second half.”
Auburn’s defense allowed a season-high in points to the Rebels, not near good enough to keep the Tigers in the game. Ole Miss entered the game with one of the top assist-to-turnover ratios in the country, and the balanced offense showed on Thursday.
The Rebels had four players score double-digits and seven different players score at least seven points. It was a remarkable showing of balance and efficiency. On a positive note, Auburn’s defense did force 18 turnovers. However, those turnovers only resulted in ten points.
SEC play did not begin how Auburn had hoped, but plenty more SEC games await the Tigers. There is still ample time to right the ship. The Tigers will look to improve off of this game while also hoping to get fully healthy as a team.
Auburn returns to action Sunday to face off against LSU. The Tigers will travel to Baton Rouge for the game inside Pete Maravich Assembly. The tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 PM. The game will air on the Auburn Sports Network and the SEC Network.
