Can Auburn capitalize on a matchup vs. Ole Miss once more?
The Tigers beat the Rebels by 10, then 30, during the regular season. Now, their postseason will begin with Round 3.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — If the old sports adage is “it’s hard to beat the same team twice,” what about doing it a third time?
Auburn basketball is going to try to find out the answer to that question Friday afternoon in Nashville, when it opens its SEC Tournament trip with a quarterfinal showdown against Ole Miss.
The Rebels are one of the traditional home-and-home rivals for the Tigers, so meeting twice a season has become the norm for the two.
But this will be the first time since the 2012 SEC Tournament in which Auburn and Ole Miss have faced each other in the postseason.
Even though Ole Miss was the top seed of the three possible teams that Auburn could have played Friday — over South Carolina and Arkansas — there’s a strong case to be made that the Tigers landed its most preferred matchup.
On the first day of February, Auburn went on the road to Ole Miss and won by 10 to improve to 8-0 in SEC play. The Tigers got off to something of a slow start but kicked into high gear late in the first half before outgunning the Rebels in a high-scoring second half. Auburn scored 92 in Oxford, which was its SEC-high at the time.
Three and a half weeks later, Auburn hosted Ole Miss for the rematch. The Tigers never trailed, putting up 50 points in the first half and then dropping 56 in the second half. Auburn’s 106-76 blowout over Ole Miss set the tone for a week that would also include a historic, SEC title-clinching 94-78 road win at Kentucky.
It’s safe to say Auburn has had Ole Miss’ number, particularly on offense. The Tigers are averaging nearly 100 points across two contests with the Rebels, who have otherwise had a top-30 defense in all of college basketball this season.
Auburn shouldn’t take anything for granted, though. Ole Miss knocked off Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky in league play this season, showing it’s capable of stepping up in big games. And while the Rebels are firmly in the NCAA Tournament field, a win over a potential No. 1 overall seed like the Tigers could improve their own spot.
While Ole Miss had to rally from blowing a large lead and hit a last-second 3-pointer to put away Arkansas on Thursday in a highly entertaining second-round matchup, Auburn got to spend one more day preparing for what it hopes could be three wins in three days for the second time this season. The Tigers should have fresher legs, especially after the Rebels had to exude a lot of energy.
Tipoff will be at noon local time in Nashville on Friday. Auburn, as is tradition, will receive its SEC championship trophy for being the outright winners of the toughest-ever version of the conference before the game.
Then it will begin its pursuit of some more hardware.
It’s not a full-fledged Stretch 4 preview, but here’s what you need to know about Round 3 between Auburn and Ole Miss.