It was a situation that Auburn has found itself in all too often as of late: a close game that was nearing its end. Recently, Auburn has struggled to close out the close games, with the Tigers suffering heartbreak after heartbreak.
Though the storyline was the same, the ending on Wednesday was a much happier result for the Tigers, as Wendell Green Jr. came up clutch at the free-throw line — a perfect 6-for-6 in the final 30 seconds, and Auburn staved off the upset-minded Ole Miss Rebels 78-74.
"Needed that one. Our best players stepped up,” said head coach Bruce Pearl. “That was great to see. But we need more from our bench. You win games by getting stops and getting to the foul line. That's how you win games. We talked about it. We did a good job with that.”
The Tigers’ win was their fourth straight over the Rebels, Auburn’s longest win streak in the series since a four-game streak from 2002-04.
“Ole Miss is a rival, too. We play them twice,” Pearl said. “I think we beat them twice last year, beat them twice this year. So, beating Ole Miss four times in a row, that's significant.”
After the four-point margin on Wednesday, eight of Auburn’s 15 SEC contests have been decided by single digits. The Tigers are 4-4 in those conference games, but Wednesday’s win broke a streak of four straight losses in such contests.
“It just shows that we're learning,” Green Jr. said.
Despite not hitting a 3-pointer, Green Jr. led Auburn (19-9, 9-6 SEC) in scoring with 23 points on a 6-of-12 shooting clip, tying Ole Miss’s Matthew Murrell for the game-high scoring output. Green Jr. converted 11 of his 12 free-throw attempts, including his six consecutive makes to put the game away. His performance came after being held to single digits in two straight games.
“If you're sick of losing that much, you're going to try to do whatever it takes to win,” Green Jr. said. “That was my job in that moment. We just lost the last game. I'm personally sick of losing. I knew I had to make those. Those teammates, they had my back. They're talking to me, and they see me make free throws all the time. It was just routine to go up there and block out all the noise.”
In Auburn’s two games against Ole Miss this season, Green Jr. combined for 46 points, scoring 23 in each — one away from his season-high of 24 set against Alabama.
Though Ole Miss attempted eight more free throws than the Tigers, Auburn’s high-percentage shooting from the foul line propelled it to victory. In 32 free-throw attempts, Ole Miss hit just 20 — a rate of 62.5%. Auburn, meanwhile, made 22 of its 24 foul shots, a season-best clip of 91.7%. The Tigers were a perfect 11-of-11 from the line in the second half.
Johni Broome played a key role both offensively and defensively for the Tigers. Broome was second in scoring for Auburn with 19 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Defensively, Broome stepped up when it mattered, blocking six shots, including five in the game’s final 10 minutes.
“You know, just protecting the rim,” Broome said. “I felt like they got a couple of layups, and I feel like it's my job as the anchor of the defense to protect the rim. I tried my best to do that, and I got five blocks, I guess.”
After giving up 13 offensive rebounds to Vanderbilt on Saturday, Auburn was outrebounded 38-28 against Ole Miss. The Rebels (10-18, 2-13 SEC) collected 17 offensive rebounds, scoring 16 second-chance points.
“I just feel like they were doing a good job on the offensive glass,” Broome said. “Seventeen, that's a lot. We only had seven. They're a good, athletic team. Lot of long rebounds, long shots. We just need to do a better job of that moving forward, but we were able to overcome it and get stops when we needed to.”
As the Tigers’ rebounding struggles continue, the nation’s eighth-best rebounding team awaits them.
“Kentucky is bigger, stronger and more athletic so we’re gonna be up there in Rupp against probably the biggest, best offensive rebounding team,” Pearl said. “(If) We rebound like we did tonight we’ll get beat by 40.”
Now in a tie with Tennessee for fourth in the SEC standings with three games left, the Tigers will be back in action on Saturday, when they visit the third-place Kentucky Wildcats.
The game will take place in Rupp Arena, where Auburn has not won since 1988. Tip-off from Lexington, Kentucky will be at 3 p.m. CST and will be nationally televised on CBS.
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
