Keyshawn Hall scored 19 points, KeShawn Murphy had a double-double and Auburn defeated Ole Miss 78-66 Tuesday night in Oxford, Miss.
Murphy finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds, Tahaad Pettiford scored 17 and Sebastian Williams-Adams had 10 as the Tigers (12-7, 3-3 SEC) won for the third time in four games with their first victory in four tries on an opponents’ home-court.
AJ Storr scored 18 and Travis Perry and Payton Pinkins had 15 each for the Rebels (11-8, 3-3), who had won three in a row.
Auburn scored the first four points of the second half to increase its lead to five points. Pinkins made a layup, Augusto Cassia made two free throws and Ole Miss got within three points.
The Tigers extended the lead to 42-34 before Storr made a 3-pointer. Elyjah Freeman made two free throws, Williams-Adams added a layup and Hall had a tip-in to give Auburn a 48-37 lead.
The Tigers led by 11 again, but Storr made two free throws and a 3-pointer to pull Ole Miss within 51-44 midway through the half. Hall scored four points and Murphy two as Auburn rebuilt the lead to 13 points with 6:24 left.
Pinkins scored seven points and the Rebels closed within 66-63 at 3:25 to go, but Pettiford answered with a three-point play to put the Tigers back in control. The Rebels never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
Early on, the lead changed hands twice and the score was tied twice before Hall made five consecutive free throws to give Auburn a 15-10 lead. Ole Miss scored the next five points to create another tie and the score was tied at 17 and 19 before Murphy scored on a put-back, Freeman added a dunk, Pettiford made two free throws and Murphy added one to give the Tigers a 26-19 lead.
Corey Chest made two free throws for the Rebels’ first points in 4 1/2 minutes and Perry made a 3-pointer for their first field goal in 5 1/2 minutes, pulling them within two points. Filip Jovic made a layup for Auburn’s first field goal and Ilias Kamardine answered with a 3-pointer to pull Ole Miss within 28-27 at halftime.
–Field Level Media
