LaDarius White scored 20 points and Ole Miss shot 58 percent from the floor as the Rebels topped Auburn 86-79 in the Auburn Arena Saturday.
Coming off their first road win of the season Thursday against LSU, the Tigers (11-12, 3-7 SEC) kept pace with the hot-shooting Rebels (16-7, 7-3 SEC) for much of the night, but could not overcome the deficit in the second half.
Antoine Mason led all scorers with 23 points while leading scorer KT Harrell contributed 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
"You can't give up 86 points and win," head coach Bruce Pearl said. "You can't send an opponent to the foul line 38 times and win. You can't let an opponent shoot 71 percent in the second half and win. That's the story of the game."
The Tigers led 32-31 at the break behind strong shooting from Harrell, who scored 12 points on four 3-pointers.
Mason hit a 3-pointer to give Auburn the lead with 18:34 left in the second half, but that would prove to be the Tigers' final lead.
The Rebels shot 71.4 percent from the field in the final half, keeping the Tigers at bay despite multiple runs that cut the deficit. The best free throw shooting team in the nation, Ole Miss went 20-of-24 from the line to close out the win.
Leading scorer Stefan Moody finished with 15 points while Jarvis Summers contributed 13 points and seven assists.
"Five out of their top seven scorers are guards," Pearl said. "As I said they did a really good job coming off pin downs and getting into the lane. Our guards had a hard time staying in front of them."
After the game, Pearl said the team wore down late in the game, contributing to the poor defensive showing.
"I had four guys play 30+ minutes," Pearl said. "It's a factor. It showed on the defensive end in the second half."
Cinmeon Bowers picked up another double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. The junior forward also contributed seven assists.
Malcolm Canada scored 12 points in expanded minutes.
The Tigers will return to action Feb. 10 when they'll welcome the Arkansas Razorbacks (18-5, 7-3 SEC) to the Auburn Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.
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