Despite an upset victory in its last matchup, Auburn fell to Ole Miss 72-52 on its senior night.
The Tigers got off to a slow start Thursday night - shooting just 1 of 14 from the field in the first quarter. Turnovers were not an issue like they have been in previous games, but Auburn just could not find a way to take the lid off the basket.
Auburn’s most reliable players, Aicha Coulibaly and Honesty Scott-Grayson, combined for nine of those misses in the first quarter. With their cold start, Auburn had no identity in the first period of play.
"I didn't think we were aggressive offensively," said Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris. "I thought we passed open a lot of wide-open shots, and then we took some bad shots. We got better in the second half. But then we just didn't guard them, we gave them wide-open shots in that zone. We wanted to make them score over us, but we also wanted to contest outside, and I thought they got wide-open shots."
Meanwhile, Ole Miss came out scorching hot. The Rebels went on a massive scoring run in the first quarter thanks to three 3-pointers in the first quarter. The Rebels also grabbed two offensive rebounds for four second chance points.
At the end of the first period of play, Auburn already trailed 19-2.
Auburn finally started to find its offense early in the second quarter after two Jala Jordan 3-pointers, but the Tigers still had no answer for the Ole Miss offense.
The Rebels hit half of their first 12 shots in the second quarter. Of those six misses, three of them ended in offensive rebounds for Ole Miss that were later converted into second chance points.
At halftime, Auburn only had 15 points and trailed 38-15.
The Tigers shot just 6 of 25, missed all three of their free throws and turned the ball over eight times in the first half. Those eight giveaways meant Auburn had turned it over on 25.8% of its possessions.
Against a team as talented, well-coached and hungry as Ole Miss, the Rebels were set up to take advantage of Auburn’s poor play.
Ole Miss shot 16 of 33 from the field with four 3-pointers made and only three turnovers. Ole Miss averaged over one point per possession and scored on 56.7% of its first-half possessions.
Auburn gets back on defense as an Ole Miss attacker pushes forward in a match between Auburn and Ole Miss in the Auburn Arena on Feb. 24, 2022.
The third quarter featured a similar start as the first two for Auburn. Missing its first six shots of the new quarter, the Auburn deficit grew to 27.
Shakira Austin, the Rebels top player, had a strong first half and kept the good play going in the third quarter. Averaging, 14.6 points per game, Austin was already over her season average midway through the quarter with 16 points on 7 of 11 shooting.
Auburn more than doubled its points total in the third quarter alone, but the game was out of reach for the Tigers once the third quarter ended. Jordan cashed in another 3-pointer in the quarter to bring her total to 11 points. The redshirt junior was responsible for a third of Auburn’s field goals after three quarters.
The Tigers did their best in the fourth quarter to scrap back, but Ole Miss continued to pour it on. Snudda Collins made her fifth 3-pointer of the game in the fourth quarter, this time plus a foul. Collins connected on the free throw to complete the four-point play which emphasized the kind of night Ole Miss was having.
Scott-Grayson led Auburn in scoring with 13 points. Jordan had 11 points off the bench. Xaria Wiggins and Mar’shaun Bostic combined for 13 more points off the bench to bring Auburn’s bench total to 24.
Wiggins was one of three seniors, along with Annie Hughes and Kiyae’ White, who were honored before the game as it was senior night for the Tigers.
"Xaria came here trying to help establish a culture and put in the foundation we had at Mississippi State; she knew what I wanted," Harris said. "Anytime I needed her to go in the game, she gave me everything she had. And Jala has been injured a lot, but she's given us some good moments and has played her best basketball this year. I really appreciate all of our seniors."
The Tigers travel to Lexington, Kentucky, next to play the Kentucky Wildcats (13-11). In the previous meeting against one another, the Wildcats won 67-55. The game will begin at 3 p.m. CST and be broadcast on SEC Network.
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Jacob is a sophomore from Leeds, Alabama. This is his second year with The Auburn Plainsman.
Twitter: @JacobWaters_
