The top seeded Tigers advanced to the SEC semifinals, awaiting the winner of Tennessee and Texas, with the 62-57 win over No. 8 seed Ole Miss Friday afternoon.
Included below are stats to know from Auburn’s most recent win in Nashville, TN.
Game Specific:
Two of the Tigers top-five highest scoring games of conference play came against the Rebels — scoring 92 points in the road win and a season-high 106 points at home. Today Auburn scored just 62 points, shooting 45% from the field.
62 points is Auburn’s second fewest points scored this season.
In Auburn’s trio of wins over Ole Miss this season, the Tigers have won by an average of 15.0 points, with tonight’s five point win the lowest of the three.
After making 10-or-more shots from deep in each of their matchups with Ole Miss, the Tigers knocked down their third fewest 3-pointers of the season, shooting 6-for-21 against the Rebels.
The Rebels’ starting guard Sean Pedulla recorded just 2 points, taking just a duo of shots, with three turnovers in the first half. Pedulla finished the day with 12 points, shooting 5-for-11 in the second half.
Denver Jones recorded 10 first half points, shooting 4-for-5 from the field with two makes from deep. The New Market, AL native finished the day with 13 points, shooting 5-for-8 from the field with two assists.
After the last few games of struggling at the boards, Auburn out rebounded Ole Miss by +10, with +3 more offensive rebounds.
The Tigers forced the Rebels into seven first half turnovers, but Ole Miss was able to flip the script and force Auburn into 11 second half turnovers resulting in 18 points for the Rebels.
While Chaney Johnson recorded his fourth straight game without scoring in double figures – his longest stretch of the season – the senior power forward knocked down a crucial second half three to help Auburn never trail in the second half.
No. 4 Johni Broome goes for a dunk against Ole Miss on Friday, March 14 in Nashville, TN in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament.
Johni Broome:
The national player of the year candidate put together a 14 point second half performance and finished the night with 23 points – his 14th time scoring 20-or-more in a game – 15 rebounds in 35 minutes.
The 6-foot-10 center now has 12 games of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds this season.
Broome's double-double performance snaps a four game streak without one – his longest stretch of the season without a double-double.
The senior center is second among active D-I players with 78 career double-doubles and sixth with 18 double-doubles this season.
His 42 doubles-doubles at Auburn (2022-25) are tied for third-most among all SEC players in the last 25 seasons, trailing only Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe with 48 and LSU's Glen Davis with 44.
Broome has 57 points in his last two outings against Ole Miss and Alabama.
Series Specific:
With a ninth-straight win over Ole Miss, Auburn sets a new series record for the Tigers in consecutive victories – the previous high was seven-straight for Auburn from 1964-68 and 1990-93.
The Tigers are 13-9 in games against the Rebels during Pearl’s tenure at Auburn, picking up their first win over Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament since 1985.
Auburn is 13-4 in the last 17 games against the Rebels. Prior to that stretch, Ole Miss had won 10 straight and 13 of the last 15 in the series. While the Tigers are 5-9 lifetime in the semifinals, Auburn has won the entire tournament in each of its last two semifinal appearances.
Since 2016, the Tigers have either lost their opening round game at the SEC Tournament or won the entire event. Time will tell if today’s win leads to another league title for Pearl.
Tournament History:
The win marks the first time the Tigers have won a game in the SEC Tournament under Bruce Pearl after taking the league regular season title.
It’s Auburn’s 15th trip to the SEC semifinals in school history including the fourth time under Pearl (2015, 2019 and 2024).
Miscellaneous:
Pearl is now 6-0 against Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard including 5-0 in matchups between Auburn and Ole Miss.
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Patrick is a junior from Auburn, Alabama, double majoring in journalism and marketing. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2022.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @patrickabingham
