The Auburn Tigers get their first road SEC victory of the season against the Ole Miss Rebels in Oxford 78-66. The win marks the first conference victory on the road in the Steven Pearl era, while also evening the Tigers conference record to 3-3.
The Tigers simply outshot the Rebels going a solid 43% from the field to their 36%, allowing them to only need to attempt 51 shots from that range as opposed to Ole Miss’ 61 total shots. Although they outshot the Rebels, Auburn would find their major difference in the paint where they found a way to score an astounding 38 total points outscoring their opposition by 24 in that category.
To no surprise of anyone who has tuned in to watch an Auburn basketball game this year, Keyshawn Hall was yet again the leading scorer with 19 total points. Despite this common occurrence, the Tigers really found a way to spread the ball around evenly, with Tahaad Pettiford getting 17 points of his own right ahead of KeShawn Murphy, who had 16, followed by Sebastian Williams-Adams, who had 10 of his own.
“He doesn’t play like a freshman. He doesn’t look like a freshman,” Auburn head coach Steven Pearl said of Williams-Adams, who played a game-high 36 minutes, while adding three rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals. “He does a lot of really good things for us.”
Pettiford has had his fair share of ups and downs this year with many high expectations for him, following a stellar freshman year. He would live up to his expectations this game aiding in other ways than just normal scoring as he would get a huge jumper and draw the foul to extend the Tigers lead late. He would follow this up by an insane dunk over 6-8 Rebels forward Corey Chest, helping to ignite the 7-0 run the Tigers would close out the game with.
“He was a floor general tonight in the truest sense,” Pearl said. “He managed the game really well at a high level. I thought he played with great poise and great tempo. On the road, that’s what we need from him to keep us settled down. He played great tonight.”
Murphy not only got himself a solid 16 point showing to add to the scoreboard but would end up getting an easy double-double with 14 rebounds during the game. He would end up being the driving force that aided in the Tigers outdoing the Rebels with a ridiculous 42 rebounds to their 26 boards.
“He had a different level of focus with how intentional he was with being a presence on the inside,” Pearl said about Murphy, who registered his second double-double of the season. “It helps when you make 6-of-7 free throws. He played phenomenal. It’s been really good that our five men have been stepping up in back-to-back-to-back games.”
The hot Auburn squad will look to carry their momentum into yet another conference game on the road as they head to Gainesville, Florida to take on the defending National Champions, on Saturday at 3:00 C.S.T.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
Reid is a sophomore majoring in accounting. He joined the Plainsman in the fall of 2024.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @ReidFarris2
