AU HOOPS: Tigers squander another double-digit lead, fall to Rebels
Tay Waller scores 29 in the loss to Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. — All Tay Waller could do was watch.
After scoring 29 points for the second consecutive game, Waller was forced to sit on the bench after fouling out in the final minutes, helpless, as
Ole Miss erased a 14-point deficit to rally and beat Auburn, 85-75, on Wednesday.
The Rebels shot 67.9 percent from the field in the second half, highlighted by an 11-1 run to hand the Tigers (13-15, 4-9) another SEC loss.
“They got going offensively with Chris Warren and Terrico White,” Auburn head coach Jeff Lebo said. “They struggled the first half, and we were able to stay in it. They got three or four guys going at one time.”
After Ole Miss (18-9, 6-7) scored the first basket of the game, Waller drained three straight 3-pointers to give Auburn an early 9-2 lead.
Waller scored 15 of Auburn’s first 17 points on five 3-pointers giving the Tigers a 17-7 lead with 13:35 left in the half.
Waller, who torched Arkansas for 29 points on 7-of-10 3-point shooting on Saturday, continued his hot hand, going 8-for-11 from behind the arc Wednesday.
He made six of his first seven 3-pointers against the Rebels, making 13 of his last 17 3-point attempts in the last two games.
Waller made six of his first seven shots while the rest of the Tigers were 2-of-16.
A Frankie Sullivan 3-pointer gave the Tigers their largest lead of the half at 33-19 with 3:24 remaining before settling for a 34-22 halftime lead behind 18 first half points from Waller.
“They got a lot of offensive rebounds in the second half, and they got a lot of second-chance shots,” said Waller. “They killed us. Somehow how defense shut down the whole second half. They scored 63 points in the second half.
“When you play like that, you can’t expect to beat anybody if you can’t stop them. If you give up 63 points in one half, it is hard to win anywhere.
In the second half, we had a meltdown defensively.”
The Rebels could never get closer than 9 points until Ole Miss scored 9 quick points in just over a minute to close a 58-45 Auburn lead to only 58-54 with 7:57 to play. Ole Miss inched closer with a
Reginald Buckner reverse layup to trail 61-59 and then Terrico White drilled a 3-pointer to give Ole Miss the lead at 66-65 at the 4:25 mark.
It was Ole Miss’ first lead since it scored the first basket of the game.
Auburn’s Brendon Knox then fouled out of the game with 3:55 remaining and the game tied at 66.
Reed had 21 points for Auburn, but he and Waller were the only two to score in double figures. Chris Warren scored 23 of his 26 points in the second half for Ole Miss, while Terrico White added 21 points and Murphy
Holloway scored 15 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, seven of them offensive. Ole Miss outrebounded Auburn, 50-25, and had a 17-7 advantage in second chance points. The Rebels dominated the Tigers in the paint 34-16.
Auburn returns home to play the final two games in the 42-year Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum history against LSU on Saturday at 6 p.m. and Mississippi State next Wednesday.
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