In the quarterfinals of the 2025 SEC basketball tournament, Auburn basketball defeated Ole Miss 62-57 for the third time in a matchup between conference rivals. The winner of No. 4 seed Tennessee and No. 13 Texas will face Auburn in the semifinals on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
The Tigers began Friday’s league schedule with the following games: In the first half, Denver Jones leads Auburn. Denver Jones, a player for Auburn, made consecutive 3-pointers to give the Tigers their opening six points against the Rebels. In the early going, the Tigers only made 25% of their deep shots, with Tahaad Pettiford and Jones only making one outside the arc.
Jones missed only one shot from the field but finished the first half with a game-high 10 points. The Tigers led by seven points at the half after nine points by Johni Broome. Auburn strung up a 16-5 run to give the Tigers their first lead of the day after falling behind 11-6 early in the half. Despite having a lead in second-chance points at the half, Ole Miss only made 27 percent of their shots from the field. Ole Miss is smothered by Auburn’s defense.
In the first half, Ole Miss played excellent defense against the Tigers. But the Rebels were already down due to their inability to produce offensively. Up until the last few minutes of the first half, Rebels guard Sean Pedulla was kept scoreless. Both he and Dre Davis had 12 points at the end of the day. Overall, both teams had trouble from 3-point range, with Auburn shooting 29 percent and the Rebels shooting 17 percent. Two of Auburn’s three blocks against the deep shot contest gave them the lead in the game. Auburn scored six points off of the Rebels by forcing ten turnovers. Ole Miss turned the ball over three times during the Tigers’ first half surge.
Ole Miss shot 37 percent from the field and was unable to create an offensive identity, despite the fact that the Tigers led the contest with 15 turnovers. Auburn dominates the frontcourt and makes it to the semifinals. With 23 points and 14 rebounds to end the afternoon, Broome tied the program record of 18 double doubles in a season set by former Tiger Mike Mitchell. He was in charge of the Tigers’ frontcourt, which finished with a 37-28 rebounding record and only gave up 26 points from beyond the arc.
Miles Kelly got things going with nine points to end the game after the first half ended without any scores. Chad Baker-Mazara and Pettiford scored 12 points off the bench together, even though they were substituted for Chris Moore in the starting lineup. With 13 points, Jones is the second-leading scorer for the Tigers. The Tigers’ domination down low was aided by the five points scored by Chaney Johnson and Jaheim Hudson combined. On Saturday afternoon, Auburn will play again in the semifinals.
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