Walker Kessler had 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocked shots as No. 4 Auburn roared from behind to beat Ole Miss 80-71 Saturday night in Southeastern Conference play in Oxford, Miss., to win its 13th straight game.
The Tigers (16-1, 5-0) trailed by 14 points in the first half, cut the margin to six at the break and had a 25-3 run in the second half. But Mississippi would not go away, tying the score with 8:59 to play.
Auburn then scored the next nine points and eventually led 71-60 before the Rebels cut their deficit to four points at the 3:05 mark. But Ole Miss could get no closer down the stretch.
Jabari Smith added 15 points for the Tigers, with K.D. Johnson and Wendell Green Jr. hitting for 14 each. The Tigers held Mississippi to 29.2 percent shooting in the second half.
Tye Fagan led the Rebels (9-7, 1-3) with 17 points. Nysier Brooks added 14, Matthew Murrell 13 and Jaemyn Brakefield 10 for Mississippi, which has dropped two straight games.
It’s hard to imagine the Rebels playing any better than they did over the first 18 minutes of the first half. Ole Miss put on a shooting clinic early, leading by as many as 14 points with 6:04 to play in the half before Auburn closed the half with a 7-0 run to pull to 44-38.
Fagan led all scorers with 12 points in the first half, with Brooks adding 10 on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. The 44 points was the second-most allowed in a half by Auburn this season.
Mississippi outshot the Tigers 56.7 percent to 53.3 percent over the first 20 minutes, hit 6 of its 12 3-pointers, outrebounded Auburn 17-10 and had a 17-4 edge in bench scoring.
Kessler paced the Tigers at the break with 10 points.
The momentum turned for Auburn in the second half as the Tigers stormed back to take a 11-0 run over a three-minute span capped by a second-chance 3-pointer by Zep Jasper and a 58-53 lead with 11:19 to play.
Mississippi responded with a 3-pointer by Murrell and a dunk by Brakefield that tied the game at 58 and set the stage for the furious finish.
–Field Level Media
