Key Takeaways from Auburn Basketball's Win at Ole Miss

Auburn moved to 3-3 in SEC play with a road win at Ole Miss on Tuesday.

The Auburn Tigers got a much-needed win on Tuesday night against rival Ole Miss. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The Auburn Tigers on Tuesday took a trip to Ole Miss, in which Steven Pearl’s squad felled the Rebels, 78-66. This win marks the second straight win for the Tigers and the team’s third in SEC play, moving the team to 12-7 overall and 3-3 in the SEC.

With such a commanding win, the Tigers, of course, have some momentum to keep up throughout the rest of SEC play, but it was far from a perfect showing from Pearl’s squad. Let’s take a look at some key takeaways from this matchup that the Tigers can take into their next game and beyond.

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No One-Man Army

Auburn has made a habit of letting a single player — whether it be Keyshawn Hall, Tahaad Pettiford, Kevin Overton or Filip Jovic, who had a career game with 23 points against South Carolina— dominate the game on the squad’s way to a win.

On Tuesday, though, there wasn’t really a single player who stood out above the rest as Tuesday marked the first Auburn win since the Jacksonville State game where no Tiger had at least 20 points. That’s not to say there weren’t solid performances, though, Tigers seemed to spread the love quite effectively. 

KeShaun Murphy posted a 16-point, 14-rebound double-double, and Hall dropped 19 points. Pettiford added 17 points, while Sebastian Williams-Adams managed 10 on 67 percent shooting. Elyjah Freeman had nine points while also contributing to the Hall’s and Murphy’s successes.

Silenced the gym with this one‼️ pic.twitter.com/It3ijhMKBN

— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) January 21, 2026

Rebounding Creates Success

Auburn utterly dominated the Rebels on the glass.

Overall, the Tigers out-rebounded the Rebels 42-26, with a 29-18 defensive rebound difference and a 13-8 offensive rebound ratio. Murphy headlined the Tigers’ rebounding efforts with 14, while Hall and Freeman managed six apiece.

Murph for dos✌️ pic.twitter.com/p9GhBt56NC

— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) January 21, 2026

If the Tigers, whose backcourt is smaller in stature than many SEC teams, can continue to excel on the glass, Pearl’s squad should be looking solid for the rest of SEC play and beyond.

3-Point Woes, Free Throws Go

Auburn has, rather uncharacteristically, struggled from beyond the arc in recent games, shooting just 2-for-19 against South Carolina on Saturday and 2-for-17 on Tuesday against the Rebels.

Usual shot-makers like Overton and Pettiford have been muted from beyond the arc, but the Tigers’ production has continued nonetheless. If this team can get the three-ball to start falling, they will ll be a scary sight on any team’s schedule.

That being said, the Tigers had a much better free-throw shooting night against Ole Miss than they have in recent games. The Tigers shot 32-for-39 (82 percent), from the charity stripe on Tuesday as they continued the trend of getting to the line early and often. 

Auburn ranks fifth in the nation in getting to the free-throw line with 28.1 free throws attempted per game, but 167th in free-throw percentage. That number is marred by a shaky start to the season that has since shown significant signs of improvement in recent games. However the Tigers will still need to work on capitalizing on the significant time spent at the charity stripe.

Up next for the Tigers is another away game, this time against Florida. Auburn, which saw its chase for a national title end in the Final Four to former assistant Todd Golden and his eventual national-champion Gators, will look for revenge beginning Saturday at 3 p.m. CST.