AUBURN, Ala. – Sharife Cooper thought he sent the game to double overtime with a game-tying 3 in the closing seconds. But on the other end, Ole Miss guard Devontae Shuler won it with a long two at the horn to give the Rebels an 86-84 victory over Auburn on Saturday.
"We needed one stop, and we get into a second overtime," Cooper said. "We had a decent defensive possession. He made a tough shot. You just give him credit."
Cooper recorded his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 assists. The 14 assists were a career high for the freshman point guard and two off the program record.
After falling behind, 84-79, with less than a minute remaining in overtime, the Tigers fought their way back. Cooper knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the lead to three. Full-court pressure led to a steal by Jaylin Williams. JT Thor missed a 3 to tie, but Williams grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked out to Cooper who buried a 3 to make it 84-84.
"Our guys have done a really good job of competing and fighting and playing hard," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. "We played really well tonight. We did a lot of really good things. You score 84 against Ole Miss? Man. Now I thought we had some careless turnovers. That was a real problem for us.
"But our guys are competing until the end. The pressure was a factor. We turned them over. Just didn't finish."
Gallery: (2-6-2021) Ole Miss 86, Auburn 84
Williams, Allen Flanigan and Devan Cambridge all finished with a team-high 16 points for Auburn.
For Cambridge, it was his first start since the last time the Tigers played Ole Miss on Jan. 6. The sophomore responded with 16 points, a season high, and he also led the team with seven rebounds and two blocks. He's now scored in double figures in seven of the last nine games.
Flanigan scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and overtime. The sophomore, who was an efficient 6 of 8 from the floor, made the team's first two baskets in overtime.
Auburn took its first lead six minutes into the game with a Cooper 3 and didn't trail again until the overtime period. The Tigers led 40-34 at the break and extended the advantage with a quick 10-2 run to begin the second half. The run included two 3s from Williams and a dunk inside from freshman center Dylan Cardwell.
It was one of four dunks for Cardwell who scored a career-high 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting and pulled down six rebounds in 28 minutes of action.
"Dylan is one of our most physical players, maybe our most physical player," Pearl said. "That is a big, strong, young freshman, and he's going to be a good player. The best is yet to come."
Five different players finished in double figures for Auburn, but the Tigers had no answer defensively for Romello White and Shuler. White scored a game-high 30 points for Ole Miss while Shuler added 26.
Auburn (10-10, 4-7) will look to end the current three-game slide when they travel to Vanderbilt on Tuesday night. The game is slated to tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on SEC Network.
