On the back-half of a two-game road stretch, No. 1 Auburn relied on contributions from a plethora of Tigers to outlast No. 23 Ole Miss, 92-82, in a hostile environment at The Pavilion on Saturday.
“What a great environment for college basketball,” said Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl. “Coach Beard and his staff have done a great job elevating this program. The guys they’ve got on their team, the personnel…. this was our toughest, our best road win so far.”
Five Tigers reached the double-digit mark in scoring on Saturday with Johni Broome leading the charge with 20 points and 12 rebounds in his usual double-double fashion – three straight and his 13th of the season.
“Coach says all the time, “Not every night is going to be the same guys, we’re going to have different guys step up,’ said Cardwell who posted a double-double. “That's the great thing about this team. We're all happy for each other. No one is sad about not playing. No one is sad about not getting the possessions they want. Everyone’s just happy, we’re a true brotherhood.”
The Tigers’ backcourt trio of Chad Baker-Mazara, Denver Jones and Miles Kelly posted 18, 16 and 15 points, respectively, powering a 50% shooting performance from beyond the arc. Auburn converted on 14 made shots from 3-point land – eight in the first half– against a Rebels team ranked No. 26 in 3-point defense nationally.
“That was some of the answers, in a sense that when we got an offensive rebound and we kicked it out, and how many times did we just we bang it, just knock it in,’ Pearl said. “You know, Tahaad (Pettiford) and Miles, Chad, Denver Jones – we think they're going to make open shots, too. They were open shots, not contested shots.”
Cardwell’s second double-double of the season came as Tigers’ workhorse with a 10-point, game-high 13-rebound performance, four assists and two steals. His 13 rebounds helped boost the Tigers to a +11-rebound advantage, something the Tigers were looking to capitalize on against the SEC’s second-worst rebounding squad.
“We knew they were undersized. We knew they had some physical players, like 14 and 0. They had some guys that were capable of being physical. But we knew that we're taller than them going in, and that was going to be our focal point: just getting second chance rebounds,” Cardwell said.
Riding a 13-game winning streak as the only undefeated team in the SEC, the Tigers will return to Neville Arena on Tuesday as the host Oklahoma. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CTS on SECN.
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Logan Fowler is a Senior from Sumiton, Alabama and is majoring in journalism. He joined the Plainsman in Spring 2024.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @loganffowler
