Takeaways: No. 13 Auburn Destroys No. 22 Ole Miss, 82-59
The Auburn Tigers just keep on winning.
Auburn routed No. 22 Ole Miss 82-59 inside Neville Arena on Saturday night, and it wasn't particularly close from opening tip to the final buzzer.
The Tigers (16-2, 5-0 SEC) are now winners of 11 straight games. They'll travel to Tuscaloosa next Wednesday to take on Alabama.
Here are takeaways from tonight's win.
Sloppy basketball
Neither team did a phenomenal job of holding onto the basketball, combining for 33 turnovers (16 from Auburn, 17 from Ole Miss). The Tigers haven't been turnover prone this season and ended up coming out on top when it came to cashing in on said turnovers (22 points off turnovers compared to the Rebels' 17).
We're still waiting to see two complete halves of play from this team. While the first half was dominant, the second half lull Auburn keeps undergoing continues.
Perfectly, balanced, as all things should be
No Tiger scored more than 13 points against the Rebels and yet Auburn still managed to eclipse 80. In fact, only three Tigers scored in double figures (Broome, Williams, and Cardwell).
And yes, the 82 points were in spite of the fact that Auburn had a four-minute scoring drought towards the end of the game. Again, the Tigers haven't been able to start and close a game strong all season long. Hopefully when it happens it's against an opponent the Tigers need to beat.
Elite depth
There may not be a deeper team in college basketball this season.
Auburn's bench outscored Ole Miss' 40-18. 11 different players played at least 14 minutes. 12 different players scored.
The fact that the Tigers can turn to several different players in the frontcourt and expect production is promising for the rest of SEC play. Elite guard play is needed in March - which Auburn is typically getting from Aden Holloway and Tre Donaldson - but the physicality of the Tigers' frontcourt so far this season has been something to behold.
Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell and Jaylin Williams continue to create arguably the best frontcourt in the conference.
