Fresh off an instant classic against the Arkansas Razorbacks in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, Ole Miss would quickly shift the focus to the Auburn Tigers on Friday, looking to shock the world with an upset over one of the best teams in the country.

Per Coach Chris Beard, Ole Miss came to the Southeastern Conference Tournament to win the whole thing, not just to play games; however, a date with a team like Auburn would provide the Rebels with a tall task to overcome on Friday. Ole Miss would open the game on fire, giving the Rebels a good bit of momentum to build off of as the first half carried on. However, Auburn’s talent was too much for the Rebels in the first half, as the Tigers took a 29-22 lead to the break.

Auburn opened the second half by pushing the lead to 41-35 with 13:45 remaining on the game clock. Auburn maintained a six-point 45-39 lead over the Rebels at the under-12 media timeout of the second half. Ole Miss cut it to two, with Auburn leading 46-44 at the under-8 media timeout. As the final media timeout of the second half rolled around, Auburn held a 52-47 lead over Ole Miss. Out of the timeout, Auburn extended the lead to 56-47 over the Rebels with three minutes remaining on the clock. With 1:13 on the clock, Ole Miss had cut the Auburn lead to 60-55. With 11.1 on the clock, Johnni Broome hit a challenging post shot to make it 62-57 in favor of Auburn.

Despite a valiant effort by the Rebels, Auburn was just too much. The Rebels’ stay in Nashville came to a close, and the Auburn Tigers moved on with a 62-57 victory. There’s no shame in the effort today by the Rebels; they fought like hell and learned what it would take to advance in the NCAA Tournament. Unless they face Auburn again in the NCAA Tournament, Ole Miss has excellent potential to make a deep March Madness run; they’ve shown this season that the Rebels can play with anyone, including the likeness of Kentucky and Tennessee, who they beat among others.

Losing is never fun, especially in March, but Ole Miss will be just fine once the NCAA Tournament rolls around next weekend.

Like others, Ole Miss will find out their NCAA Tournament path on CBS on Sunday at 5:00.

Photo Credits- Ole Miss Basketball on X