No. 1 Auburn continued its winning ways on Saturday with a 92-82 win over No. 23 Ole Miss at The Pavilion, picking up its 13 Quad I win.
With the win, the Tigers extended their winning streak to 13 and remain the only undefeated team in the SEC.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
Auburn gets hot from three
The Tigers started the game off with hot shooting from deep with their first three makes coming from beyond the arc.
That trend continued throughout the remainder of the contest as the Tigers turned in another game of double-digit makes from 3-point land, finishing 14-of-28. Chad Baker-Mazara – who converted on back-to-back momentum swinging threes to ignite an Auburn run in the second half – and Denver Jones led the charge with four makes apiece. Miles Kelly added three makes, while Johni Broome chipped in two.
The Tigers’ backcourt combined for 12 made threes against the No. 26 3-point defense in the nation.
A game of runs
Every time the Tigers extended their lead, Ole Miss responded as both teams traded blows in a game of runs.
Auburn held the lead for the majority of the game – 33:50 to be exact – but the Rebels stayed within fighting distance as the Tigers never led by more than nine – until the end. Auburn went on two separate runs of 8-0 and another 8-2 run while Ole Miss answered with two 7-0 runs of its own and a 9-2 run.
Both teams were almost identical from the field as Auburn shot 48% with Ole Miss shooting 46%.
Tigers share the load offensively
Five different Tigers notched double-digit figures in the win.
Broome led the way with his third straight double-double performance on a 20-point, 12-rebound performance. Baker-Mazara added 18 points and Jones – who was the Tigers’ anchor early in the game – added 16. Kelly – who sat for the back half of the second half with four fouls – added 15 points.
Dylan Cardwell added 10 points while Tahaad Pettiford added nine.
Cardwell all over the place
He’ll never blow you away with his scoring totals, but Cardwell was the Tigers’ workhorse on Saturday, making plays that don’t show up in the stat sheet.
Recording his second double-double of the season, Cardwell hauled in a game-high 13 rebounds to give the Tigers a +11-rebound advantage against the second-worst rebounding team in the SEC.
The Tigers will return to the friendly confines of Neville Arena on Tuesday night as they host Oklahoma. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. CT and will be televised on SECN.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email logan.fowler@1819News.com.
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