AUBURN, Ala. – Chuma Okeke scored a career-high 23 points and added 11 rebounds but Ole Miss held on Wednesday for a 60-55 win at Auburn Arena.
"Chuma Okeke had a dominating game," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "We went to him as much as we possibly could, probably could have gone to him even more, and he clearly won his position, but we lost every place else on the floor."
Okeke hit a pair of free throws with 1:54 left to pull Auburn within three points at 58-55. The Tigers then forced back-to-back turnovers but missed three chances to narrow the gap or tie.
Trailing by 10 in the second half, Okeke scored all of Auburn's points in an 8-0 run that pulled the Tigers within two at 39-37.
Displaying his versatility, Okeke drew a foul on a layup and made the free throw, hit a 3-pointer and drove down the lane for a dunk that ignited the crowd of 7, 337.
"My teammates did a good job of getting me open," Okeke said. "I was just trying to make plays."
Okeke's double-double impressed teammate Horace Spencer.
"The sky is the limit for Chuma," said Spencer, who scored five points, adding two assists and a steal in 17 minutes. "If he keeps developing his game, he's going to be one of the best players I've seen in a long time. I had a lot of teammates in the NBA playing for Findlay Prep (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). He's better than some of the guys I played with.
"Chuma has unlimited potential. I love seeing him play. I love watching him develop. He's capable of more. I was telling him during the game, 'Keep going. Nobody's stopped you. Nobody can stop you.' Us having that confidence in him gives him more confidence."
Ole Miss hit 13 3-pointers on 33 attempts (39.4 percent) while holding Auburn to just 5-of-20 from 3-point range (25 percent).
Breein Tryee led the Rebels (17-7, 7-4) with 20 points while Devontae Shuler added 17.
Jared Harper scored 10 points, going 7-for-7 from the free-throw line.
Auburn trailed 30-24 at the half after Ole Miss hit seven 3-pointers to the Tigers' two.
Okeke led the Tigers with seven points and six rebounds in the half. Okeke's driving dunk, preceded by Malik Dunbar's blocked shot, ended an 8-0 Ole Miss run.
Harper followed with Auburn's first 3-pointer with 5:05 remaining in the half. The Rebels led by 10 late in the half but Bryce Brown's old-fashioned 3-point play helped the Tigers trim the deficit.
Auburn (16-8, 5-6) plays at Vanderbilt Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPNU and the Auburn Sports Network.
"We're not going to panic. We're going to grind," Pearl said. "This is a really good league. These are really good teams, and we're going to focus on the next one."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer