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 Auburn (8-4, 0-1) | | January 9, 2014 | 1 | 2 | F | | Auburn Tigers | 28 | 34 | 62 | | Ole Miss Rebels | 31 | 34 | 65 |
|  Opponent (10-4, 1-0) |
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By Charles Goldberg
AuburnTigers.com
Oxford, MS. -- Auburn coach Tony Barbee said he was pleased with his team's overall effort on the road Thursday night.
But the Tigers, ultimately, made too many mistakes to win.
Ole Miss beat the Tigers 65-62 in Tad Smith Coliseum in Oxford in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams, and Barbee said Auburn's mistakes were the difference.
Auburn had 18 turnovers. Ole Miss had nine.
"We just had way too many turnovers and way too many unforced turnovers that resulted in lost possessions," Barbee said on his post-game radio show. "I thought that was the bottom line in the game. The empty possessions that we had and unforced turnovers really hurt us."
Ole Miss won despite missing leading scorer Marshall Henderson, who was serving a suspension for actions last season.
Auburn had a chance to tie at the end, but the 3-point tries bounced away. The Tigers, who came in riding a four-game winning streak, fell to 8-4. Ole Miss improved to 10-4.
Still, it was Auburn's best game away from Auburn Arena.
"We've gotten better," Barbee said. "That's playing hard, that's playing tough, that's playing together, playing relentless. We did that. The thing we've got to do, and I've said this since Day One, we cannot be a two-man team."
Chris Denson led all scorers with 28, though his scoring partner, SEC scoring leader KT Harrell, was limited to 11 points because of foul trouble.
"I thought Chris was good tonight. He had 28, but he had 28 on way too many shots, 25. And he had way too many turnovers. KT was hurt by being in foul trouble. He kind of got out of a rhythm," Barbee said.
Denson had five turnovers, the same as point guard Tahj Shamsid-Deen. Harrell played only 27 minutes. And senior Allen Payne played only 26 because he suffered a leg injury during the game. Barbee said Payne would be examined in Auburn.
"You don't know what's going on with him," he said.
Auburn outrebounded 40-30.
"I thought we really played hard and tough on the backboards," Barbee said.
Derrick Millinghaus led Ole Miss with 16 points. Denson and Harrell, the top scoring tandem in the SEC, were the only players in double figures for Auburn.
The Tigers will try to rebound against Missouri at 1 p.m. Saturday in Auburn Arena.
Charles Goldberg is a Senior Writer at Auburn Tigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @AUGoldMine
