Field Level Media
Jan 9, 2019
Terence Davis produced 27 points and 12 rebounds as Ole Miss upset No. 11 Auburn 82-67 at Oxford, Miss., in the Tigers' Southeastern Conference opener Wednesday night.
The Rebels (12-2, 2-0 SEC) picked up their ninth straight win while the defending SEC regular-season co-champion Tigers (11-3, 0-1), playing just their second game in 18 days, lost for the second time in four games.
K.J. Buffen came off the bench to add 16 points, Devontae Shuler scored 14 and Dominik Olejniczak scored 11 for Ole Miss.
Bryce Brown scored 23 points and Malik Dunbar added 11 for the Tigers, who shot just 32.8 percent (22 of 67) from the floor. More than half of their attempts were 3-pointers, and they made 14 of 39 (35.9 percent).
Ole Miss had a 13-point halftime lead, but Auburn cut into it right away to start the second half.
Brown and Samir Doughty each made a 3-pointer as the Tigers scored the first seven points to get within 42-36.
Buffen made two free throws for the Rebels' first two points of the half, but they didn't make a field goal until 14:13 remained in the half when Buffen made a layup for a 46-41 lead.
He made another basket and Breein Tyree added a jumper as Ole Miss widened the lead to 50-41. The Rebels led by nine once more before Auburn started cutting into the deficit.
Dunbar scored eight points, and the Tigers closed within 56-54.
Shuler made a jumper and a 3-pointer as the Rebels rebuilt the lead to 61-54.
Auburn got within three points, but Ole Miss put together a 9-0 run to take a 72-60 lead with four minutes remaining.
The Rebels never allowed the lead to get to fewer than 10 points the rest of the way.
The score was tied at 9-9 in the early going before the Rebels opened up a lead.
Davis made two 3-pointers and had two more baskets during a 16-5 Ole Miss run.
Austin Wiley made two free throws to stop the run and Doughty's 3-pointer later pulled the Tigers within 30-27.
The Rebels extended the lead thanks largely to a series of trips to the foul line. They made nine free throws and took a 42-29 halftime lead.
--Field Level Media