AUBURN, Ala. – The SEC's lone remaining unbeaten team, No. 13 Auburn used sizzling shooting and exceptional depth to dispatch No. 22 Ole Miss 82-59 Saturday at Neville Arena, the Tigers' 11th consecutive win.
"To play that well and control the game like we did was impressive," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "Especially in the first half we did a good job of guarding without fouling."
Auburn's bench outscored Ole Miss 40-18, including 12 points from Dylan Cardwell on 5-of-6 shooting in the first meeting between the programs when both were ranked in the top 25.
"This is the closest team I've ever been on," said Cardwell, who added three rebounds and a steal. "It's fun to be on a team where everyone is your genuine friend and your genuine brother."
"We're deep at every position and we have each other's back," said Lior Berman, who scored four points and grabbed three rebounds. "If one guy is off, we've got another guy coming in and we're going to support each other through that. Having that at each position has allowed us to be effective every night."
Johni Broome and Jaylin Williams each scored 13 points to lead Auburn, which made 58.2 percent of its shots including 8-of-18 3-pointers (44.4 percent) and played 11 players for at least 10 minutes.
"Because they player fewer minutes, we can play hard," Pearl said.
Leading by 19 at the half, Auburn extended its lead to 31 points thanks to a 14-0 run by the Tigers' second unit – affectionately, and appropriately for '70s night, known as "K.D. and the Sunshine Band."
Chaney Johnson began the run with a dunk on an assist from Chad Baker-Mazara, who hit a 3-pointer to put Auburn ahead 55-33.
Cardwell dunked, drew a foul and made a free throw after an assist from K.D. Johnson, then Cardwell dunked again after Chaney Johnson's assist to give the Tigers 10 unanswered points in fewer than two minutes.
"Coach is really adamant about finishing the second half strong," Cardwell said. "We saw the adjustments, made them and applied pressure."
Broome tipped in a teammate's miss in transition, then K.D. Johnson scored on a reverse after a steal that gave Auburn a 64-33 lead.
Broome drew some of the night's loudest cheers during a sequence that saw him bank in a 3-pointer then block the Rebels' shot at the other end.
Auburn led 46-27 after a first half in which it shot 66.7 percent, outrebounded the Rebels 15-7, and all 11 Tigers who played scored. Williams scored 10 in the half and the Tigers recorded 11 assists on 18 first-half field goals.
Ten Tigers combined for 19 assists, including three apiece from Aden Holloway, Tre Donaldson and Cardwell.
Looking to win its 12th consecutive game and improve to 6-0 in the SEC, Auburn (16-2, 5-0) travels to Tuscaloosa Wednesday to play Alabama at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN and the Auburn Sports Network.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
OLE MISS POSTGAME NOTES
» With the win, Auburn now leads 82-64 in the all-time series with Ole Miss including 54-17 in Auburn and 7-6 in Neville Arena. The Tigers have won five straight in the series and have won the last three and four of the last five contests against the Rebels at Neville Arena.
» Head Coach Bruce Pearl improved to 14-11 in his career against Ole Miss including 9-9 coaching Auburn and 5-5 in Neville Arena. Pearl is now 2-0 against Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard. Auburn defeated Texas Tech, 67-65, in the 2016 Cancun Challenge – the first meeting between the two coaches.
» Auburn improved to 16-2 overall and 5-0 in Southeastern Conference play. The Tigers are the lone remaining undefeated team in the SEC. It marked the fourth time in the last seven seasons the Tigers have started 16-2 or better. Prior to the 2017-18 season, the last time Auburn started at least 16-2 was 1999-2000 when the Tigers opened the season 16-1 before dropping consecutive games. It was the first time Auburn has won its first five SEC games since doing so in 1999.
» The 23-point win was Auburn's largest margin of victory against Ole Miss since defeating the Rebels, 80-53, on Jan. 10, 2004.
» Auburn extended its winning streak to 11 games, which is the Tigers' longest winning streak since winning 19-straight games during the 2021-22 season.
» Auburn extended its home-court winning streak to 13 games, which is tied for the seventh-longest home-court winning streak in program history and the longest since the Tigers won 13 games from March 4, 2017-Feb. 3, 2018 at Neville Arena.
» With its win over No. 22-ranked Ole Miss, Auburn is now 19-27 against ranked opponents under head coach Bruce Pearl, but the Tigers have won 15 of their last 26 against Top 25 opponents. AU evened its record against ranked opponents at Neville Arena at 13-13 including 9-1 in its last 10 home games against Top 25 opponents. The Tigers are now 12-6 against ranked opponents at Neville Arena under Coach Pearl.
» Auburn started Aden Holloway, Denver Jones, Chris Moore, Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome. It was the 13th-straight game the Tigers have used the same starting lineup. The group is 14-1 as a starting unit on the season.
» Auburn shot a season-best 58.2 percent (32-of-55) against Ole Miss. It was the Tigers' highest field-goal percentage in an SEC game since shooting 58.5 percent against Vanderbilt on Feb. 16, 2022.
» Auburn held Ole Miss to season lows in points (59) and first-half points (27).
» Tonight was the 49th-consecutive sellout at Neville Arena (9,121).
» Auburn outscored Ole Miss, 40-18, in bench points. It was the eighth time this season the Tigers have scored at least 40 bench points. AU is outscoring opponents by an average of 20.4 points off the bench in SEC play.
» Auburn forced Ole Miss into a season-high 17 turnovers and scored 22 points off the Rebels' miscues. It was the fifth time this season the Tigers have scored at least 20 points off turnovers, including the second time in SEC play, after scoring 24 points off turnovers against LSU.
» Three players scored in double figures for Auburn, led by 13 apiece from Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome. Williams was 5-of-7 from the floor, 1-of-1 from 3-point range and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. He added one rebound, one assist and one block in the win. It was his 11th game in double figures this season and the 53rd of his career. Williams is averaging 15.5 points on a 70.0 field-goal percentage during Auburn's 11-game winning streak.
» Broome was 5-of-9 shooting, including 1-of-2 from long range, and was 2-of-2 from the foul line He added five rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block. It was Broome's ninth-straight game in double figures during which he is averaging 15.4 points per game. He is also averaging 2.2 steals in SEC play.
» Dylan Cardwell scored a career-high 12 points for the second-straight game after scoring 12 points in Auburn's win at Vanderbilt on Wednesday night. Cardwell was 5-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. He finished the night with three rebounds, three assists and one steal. It was the first time in his career he has scored in double figures in consecutive games.
