Coming off a regular season series sweep over Georgia, the top-ranked Tigers are getting set to attempt this same feat as they face Ole Miss inside Neville Arena on Wednesday.
Previously, Auburn traveled to Oxford, MS to take on Ole Miss on Saturday, Feb. 1 and the Tigers handled business, leaving victorious with an 82-72 win while maintaining the lead the entire second half.
Led by second year head coach Chris Beard the Rebels have posted a 19-8 record this year while holding an 8-6 conference record, already improving from their previous season performance as they went 7-11 in the SEC. To begin the year, Ole Miss found a spot at the No. 24 ranking in the AP Top 25 and Beard’s team has hovered around this number while being ranked every week besides one leading up to the current poll.
The Rebels have had an interesting season thus far with many notable wins, but also many heartbreaking losses, as Ole Miss fans have struggled to endure. Victories over current No. 6 Alabama and No. 17 Kentucky stand out on the Rebels’ schedule, but Mississippi also has lost three ranked matchups by just a single basket including an overtime loss to in-state rival, Mississippi State.
Heading into the home matchup, Bruce Pearl and the Tigers are on a four-game winning streak while Ole Miss is carrying a two-game losing streak. Auburn has had strong success against the Rebels recently, going 8-2 in the opponents last 10 matchups including a seven-game winning streak that will be challenged on Wednesday. Alike his team’s successes, Pearl is 4-0 while going head-to-head with Beard.
The Rebels’ roster contains many transfer athletes, highlighted by 6’1 guard Sean Pedulla who leads his team in points and assists respectively with 14.8 points per game and 3.8 assists per game. The senior is a previous transfer from Virginia Tech and has been the backbone of the Rebels’ team this season and found tremendous success against the No. 1 team in the nation earlier this year. Pedulla posted 29 points with five rebounds and two assists against Auburn earlier this month and will be looking to repeat this performance shortly in a competitive rematch between the conference foes.
“We’re good enough to play with just about anybody in the country.” said Pedulla when asked about his biggest takeaway from the previous matchup between Auburn and Ole Miss.
While Pedulla delivered a strong performance while facing the Tigers in the last contest, Johni Broome helped improve his team’s odds of a victory by doing the same. Broome recorded a double-double while scoring 20 points with 12 rebounds while facing the Rebels, improving on his already dominant season. Broome now has 17 double-doubles in just 25 games played, propelling him to become a highly followed Naismith Player of the Year candidate.
With just four games remaining, Wednesday’s contest will be an extremely crucial game for both sides. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CST inside Neville Arena, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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Will is a freshman majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in the spring of 2025.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @willdembo
