The Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team fell short in this SEC showdown matchup, losing 78-66 on Tuesday. With the loss, Ole Miss drops to 11-8 and 3-3 in SEC conference play.
The more devastating part, however, was its three-game win streak coming to an end.
"It's just a really disappointing night from our standpoint," said Rebels basketball head coach Chris Beard following the loss. "It was just a wasted opportunity and trying to tell the guys in life, you get certain amount of opportunities and you got to take advantage of them."
Ole Miss trailed for the majority of the game but kept it close with Auburn in the first half with a 28-27 score. However, they managed to pour on in the second half, cutting the double-digit lead from the Tigers to three points before Auburn put the game away with a free throw.
A.J. Storr led the way for the Rebels with 18 points (13 of those points coming in the second half). Travis Perry had 15 points, including going five-for-eight from long range on the three-point line. Patton Pinkins also had 15 points for Ole Miss.
Auburn overpowered Chris Beard's squad
Auburn (12-7, 3-3 SEC) came out aggressive and put the Rebels out of reach.
The Rebels clawed their way back into the game to put up a comeback effort, though, going on a 14-4 run, bringing the Rebels within three points (66-63) with under four minutes to play.
The Pavilion crowd was alive and well to support the Rebels' comeback efforts. Auburn took that as motivation, as a game-winning three-pointer extended the lead and came out winning, silencing the Rebel Nation crowd.
Auburn PG Tahaad Pettiford made sure to give the Ole Miss student section one final wave after putting the game away pic.twitter.com/MZY3G105EH
— Justin Ferguson (@JFergusonAU) January 21, 2026
Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl was happy with guard Tahaad Pettiford's game play in the game against Ole Miss.
"He was a floor general tonight in the truest sense..." he said. "He played with great poise and great tempo." Pettiford had 17 points and finished five-for-12 on field goal in the game. But it will be Keyshawn Hall leading the way for the Tigers. KeShawn Murphy had a double-double in the game, finishing with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
Ole Miss will look to bounce back against the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday. The game comes on at 11:00 a.m. CST on ESPN.