AUBURN – For Auburn’s men’s basketball team, it was yet another version of the same maddening story.
The Tigers led No. 23 Ole Miss 41-38 at halftime at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum after leading by as many as 7. They were making shots, crashing the boards, doing the things it takes to win. But when the shots wouldn’t fall in the second half, the Tigers went south again.
They had only five turnovers in the game and took 14 more shots than did Ole Miss. None of it was enough to keep the Rebels from rallying in the second half to take anj 84-74 victory before an announced crowd of 6,984.
Jeff Lebo’s sixth Auburn team fell to 10-11 overall and 1-5 in the Southeastern Conference. Ole Miss improved to 15-4 and 4-2. Auburn fell to 0-3 in SEC games at Beard-Eaves.
The Tigers led by 12 in the first half at Tennessee on Jan. 14 and lost 81-55. They fell 19 behind Kentucky at home on Jan. 16, only to fight back and tie the game in the second half before falling 72-67. They led by 16 in the first half at Vanderbilt last Saturday and lost 82-74. And then came Thursday.
Senior guard Tay Waller, who hit five 3-pointers and scored 21 points, shook his head sadly when it was over.
"It is the same thing every game,” Waller said. “It is very frustrating. We are trying to search for answers. The first half we play good basketball and, in the second half, it seems like we just can’t get it going. We play good defense in the first half and in the second half, we do not stop them. We do not play defense aggressively like we do in the first half."
The Tigers trailed 62-61 with 8:14 left, but if the Rebels were rattled, they didn’t show it. They took off on a 16-4 run that all but iced the game.
Auburn’s smaller guards had a difficult time on both ends of the floor. DeWayne Reed scored 15 points but was just 4-of-15 from the field. Frankie Sullivan hit just 2-of-12 and scored seven points. Lucas Hargrove scored 11.
Chris Warren scored 20 points and Terrico White 19 for Ole Miss.
Waller, who scored 16 of his points in the first half, came out cooking from 3-point range. The Tigers led 11-4 early and raced to an 11-4 lead. The Rebels answered by going up 34-29. But Auburn rallied to go up at halftime when Brendon Knox scored on a three-point play with 3.4 seconds left.
After going 8-of-19 from 3-point range in the first half, Auburn was 3-for-17 in the second half.
Lebo tried numerous combinations, playing 10 players. But the ending was the same. Auburn has played four nationally ranked teams in its first six SEC games and lost to them all.
"It's pretty standard for us to get to the eight-minute mark, be right there and not able to finish it out,” Lebo said. “It's frustrating. I feel for the kids. We had five turnovers with 14 more shots with the same amount of free throws. you can feel good about that. We couldn't finish. We missed some key shots coming down the stretch. Some guys struggled shooting the basketball.”
The Tigers have little time to lick their wounds. Alabama visits Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum on Saturday at 3 p.m.
