KeShawn Murphy recorded his second double-double in four games to lead Auburn to its first SEC road victory of the season, a 78-66 win over Ole Miss Tuesday at the Pavilion.
The win was the Tigers’ 10th consecutive series win, tying South Carolina as their longest active win streak over an SEC opponent.
Murphy scored 16 points and equaled his career-high with 14 rebounds, helping Auburn outrebound the Rebels by 17 (44-27).
“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. “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.”
Auburn clung to a 28-27 lead at the break and used a much better second-half shooting performance – the Tigers shot just 33.3 percent in the first half – to extend its lead to 13 with under seven minutes to play.
Ole Miss went on a 7-0 run that pulled it within three points with 3:25 left on the clock.
Auburn point guard Tahaad Pettiford then scored the Tigers’ next seven points, including an emphatic dunk on a breakaway slam to put the nail in the coffin for the Rebels.
“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 shot its best mark of the season from the charity stripe, netting 32 on 39 attempts. It was just 2-of-17 from beyond the arc and, for those counting, that’s a 4-of-36 clip in the last two affairs.
Keyshawn Hall led Auburn with 19 points, including 11-of-12 free throws. Pettiford scored 17 and led Auburn with three assists, while 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.”
Auburn will travel to Gainesville, where it has not won since 1996, on Saturday to take on No. 16 Florida in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. CT on ESPN. TG
