Feb. 25, 2009
Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery 
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) ---Quantez Robertson dribbled up the court, nearly lost the ball in mid-air and heaved it toward the basket left-handed as the halftime buzzer sounded. That momentum-changing 3-pointer and Tay Waller's seven-point surge to open the second half helped Auburn coast to a 77-64 win over Mississippi on Wednesday night, the Tigers' fifth win in six games.
DeWayne Reed had 19 points and Waller added 18 for the Tigers (18-10, 7-6 Southeastern Conference), who started a 26-5 run with Robertson's awkward 3-point heave against Murphy Holloway to cut the halftime deficit to four points.
"(The defender, Murphy Holloway) got his hand on the ball a little bit and I was able to get the ball in the air," Robertson said. "It went in for me."
So did just about everything else for Auburn for a few minutes after the half, while Ole Miss (15-12, 6-7) went cold. Waller hit two 3-pointers and a foul shot in the first 57 seconds of the second half to give Auburn the lead for good and a young Ole Miss team never recovered.
The Tigers set the standards for most wins in a season during coach Jeff Lebo's five-year tenure, and tied the mark for most SEC victories. The 15 home wins also matches the most in the 41-year history of Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.
The Rebels, who led by as many as nine points in the first half, were just 1-for-17 shooting to open the second half. They missed 13 in a row at one point.
"We just broke down," said Terrico White, who led Ole Miss with 24 points. "Coach is always telling us the first five minutes of the second half are the key to winning the game."
With two freshmen and two sophomores starting, the Rebels seemed to start losing their cool during that span with some on-court bickering, careless turnovers and few open shots.
"Us being aggressive and taking it to them, they kind of got flustered," Robertson said. "They were kind of confused on how to guard our screens and how to get through plays. We just tried to keep doing that and keep getting them frustrated."
The two teams opened the game tied for third in the SEC West and by the end of the night the Tigers found themselves in a tie for second in the Western Division with Mississippi State, an 81-76 loser at Tennessee. Auburn and Mississippi State play each other Saturday in Starkville at 5 pm Central.
Ole Miss had earlier handed Auburn a 19-point loss, its worst of the season. Waller was scoreless in that game and missed all five 3-point attempts. He hit four 3s this time, taking advantage of teammates' screens to open the second half.
"Coach ran a play for me and I hit the first one and he ran another play for me, and I hit it too," Waller said.
Korvotney Barber had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Auburn, which has boosted postseason hopes that once seemed a longshot with its recent run and also got a little redemption from the first meeting.
"They whipped us pretty good down at Ole Miss," Barber said. "They were more physical than we were."
Rasheem Barrett had 10 points for Auburn. Reed didn't commit a turnover in the game and had three assists and three steals. Lebo said Robertson's shot gave the team "a positive vibe" going into the locker room.
"He kind of lost it going up and then just threw it up there," Lebo said.
Zach Graham and David Huertas scored 15 apiece for Ole Miss. Huertas only scored two points in the second half, going 1-for-8 from the floor and 0-for-5 from 3-point range. Malcolm White added 18 rebounds for the Rebels, who committed 23 turnovers.
They shot just 25 percent in the second half -- including 4-of-18 3s -- after hitting half their shots before the half. Ole Miss was coming off wins over Tennessee and Georgia by a combined 38 points but couldn't sustain that hot play.
"We couldn't score," Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. "When you can't get it close to the basket, we live and die on the jump shot.
"You're just not going to be able to win SEC games when you commit as many turnovers as we did. Just careless with the ball at times. A number of times we had possession of the ball and they just took it away from us."
The Tigers, the SEC's worst-shooting team from the foul line, made 22 of 29 free throws.