Auburn slams Ole Miss 78-66, earns first SEC road win

OXFORD, Miss. –  KeShawn Murphy delivered a double-double to lead Auburn to its first SEC road victory, a 78-66 triumph over Ole Miss Tuesday at the Pavilion, the Tigers’ 10th consecutive series win.

Murphy scored 16 points and equaled his career-high with 14 rebounds, helping Auburn outrebound the Rebels by 16 (42-26), a stunning differential. 

“He had a different level of focus with how intentional he was with being a presence on the inside,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said of Murphy, who registered his second double-double of the season. “It helps when you make 6 of 7 free throws. He played phenomenal. It’s been really good that our 5 men have been stepping up in back-to-back-to-back games.” 

Ahead 28-27 at the half, Auburn steadily added to its advantage, leading by 13 with 6:24 to play before the Rebels rallied.

Travis Perry’s fifth 3-pointer began a 7-0 run that pulled the Rebels (11-8, 3-3) within three points with 3:25 remaining. 

Tahaad Pettiford took over from there, scoring Auburn’s next seven points, drawing a foul and making a free throw after a spectacular turnaround jumper, then beating the Rebels’ press and skying for a right-handed slam over 6-8 Ole Miss forward Corey Chest.

“He was a floor general tonight in the truest sense,” Pearl said. “He managed the game really well at a high level. I thought he played with great poise and great tempo. On the road, that’s what we need from him to keep us settled down. He played great tonight.”

Auburn (12-7, 3-3) scored the game’s last seven points, all from the free-throw line, helping the Tigers make 32 of 39 free throws, including 23 of 28 in the second half.

Those points helped Auburn overcome another tough outside shooting night that saw the Tigers make only 2 of 17 3-point attempts.

Keyshawn Hall led Auburn with 19 points, including 11 of 12 free throws. Pettiford scored 17 and led Auburn with three assists. Sebastian Williams-Adams added 10 points.

“He doesn’t play like a freshman, he doesn’t look like a freshman,” Pearl said of Williams-Adams, who played a game-high 36 minutes while adding three rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals. “He does a lot of really good things for us.”

Pettiford and Hall each scored seven points in the first half to help Auburn take a one-point halftime lead. 

The Tigers led by seven with four minutes remaining after a 9-0 run but scored only two points the rest of the half while Ole Miss hit a pair of 3-pointers.

Auburn outrebounded Ole Miss 23-16 in the half but the Tigers made only 1 of 10 3-pointers while the Rebels were 4-for-13. Pettiford made Auburn’s first 3-point attempt of the game but the Tigers missed their next nine long-range shots.

Auburn remains on the road Saturday for a matinee at No. 16 Florida before returning to Neville Arena Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m. CT for the Rumble in the Jungle vs. Texas featuring free foam tiger paws for Auburn University students.

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer

GAME NOTES

• Auburn used the starting lineup of Tahaad Pettiford, Elijah Freeman, Keshawn Hall, Sebastian Williams-Adams and KeShawn Murphy. It is the first time the group has started together this season. Hall has started a team-high 18 games this season, Pettiford has 17 starts on the year, Murphy has started 16 contests, freshman Williams-Adams has started 12 of the first 19 games of his collegiate career and Freeman has started 10 games on the season.
• Auburn has won 10 straight games over Ole Miss, tying the Tigers’ 10 consecutive wins over South Carolina for their longest active winning streak against an SEC opponent.
• Auburn held a 28-27 halftime lead. It was the sixth time this season the Tigers have held an opponent to fewer than 30 first-half points, including the second straight game after holding South Carolina to 24 points in the first half on Saturday. Auburn is 10-1 when leading at halftime this season.
• Auburn scored 50 points on 54.2 percent shooting in the second half. The Tigers are averaging 49.0 points on 55.0 percent shooting in the second half of their 12 victories this season.
• Auburn finished 32-of-39 (82.1 percent) from the free-throw line. It is the most free throws the Tigers have made since making a school-record 40 free throws against Alabama in 2024.
• Auburn outscored Ole Miss 38-14 in the paint. The plus-24 advantage in the paint was the Tigers’ best in SEC play. Auburn has outscored its opponent in the paint in all six league games.
• Auburn committed only nine turnovers. It was the sixth time this season, including the first time in SEC play, the Tigers have had single-digit turnovers.
• Auburn outrebounded Ole Miss, 42-26. The Tigers are 10-3 when they outrebound an opponent this season. Auburn has outrebounded five out of six SEC opponents. The Tigers’ plus-16 rebounding margin was their best in an SEC game since they also outrebounded the Rebels 42-26 in Oxford in 2024.
• Auburn placed four players in double figures and all five starters scored at least nine points as the group accounted 71 of the Tigers’ 78 points. Hall led the way with a game-high 19 points on 4-of-10 field goals and 11-of-12 from the free throw line to go with six rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal in 35 minutes. He has scored in double figures in 17 of 18 games this season and 72 times in his career. It was the fifth time this season Hall has made double-digit free throws.
• Pettiford scored 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the floor, including one 3-pointer, and 6-of-6 from the foul line. He added a team-high three assists and two rebounds in 34 minutes. It was the most points he has scored since going for 25 points at Georgia in the SEC opener.
• Murphy recorded his seventh career double-double and his second of the season with 16 points on 5-of-8 field goals, going 6-of-7 from the charity stripe and 14 rebounds. He added one assist, one block and one steal in 23 minutes in the victory. Murphy’s 14 rebounds tie Hall’s 14 boards against Merrimack for the most by a Tiger this season.
• Williams-Adams finished with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including one 3-pointer and 1-of-2 from the foul line to go with three rebounds, two blocks, two steals and an assist in 36 minutes. He has scored in double figures in three straight games for the first time in his career. He has reached double figures a total of seven times in his first 19 career games, including five times in the last seven games. During that stretch, he is shooting 52.4 percent from the floor. 
• Jovic made both of his field goals attempts and is now shooting 84.0 percent (21-of-25) in SEC play.