February 21, 2026; Auburn, Alabama, USA; Auburn Tigers guard Keyshawn Hall (7) shoots a free throw in the second half against the Kentucky Wildcats at Neville Arena. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-Imagn Image This season has been tough for Ole Miss and Auburn, with both teams sitting near the bottom of the Southeastern Conference and missing March Madness, barring a Cinderella-like run to the SEC Tournament.
Both teams will try to overcome big losses and gain momentum to close out the season when the Tigers host the Rebels on Saturday night.
Auburn (15-13, 6-9 SEC) got off to a sluggish start in conference play, but appeared to be heading in the right direction with back-to-back wins against then-No. 16 Florida and Texas at the end of January.
Since then, the Tigers have lost six of seven games, and if they don’t win, they would have a losing record in conference play for the second time in the last nine seasons.
The Tigers lost 91-79 at Oklahoma on Tuesday, allowing the Sooners to shoot 13 of 19 (68.4%) on 3-pointers.
“We qualified tonight,” coach Stephen Pearl said after the loss. “We were selfish on the defensive end tonight…. So I need to change the way I coach these guys. I need to increase the intensity a little bit and maybe they will start playing like I act.”
“We can’t allow low basketball IQ mistakes to continue to lead to open shots.”
Keyshawn Hall, who scored 26 points against Oklahoma, leads the Tigers’ frontcourt offense with 20.8 points per game, while Tahad Pettiford leads the backcourt with 14.4 points and 3.6 assists per game.
Ole Miss (11-17, 3-12) sits near the bottom of the SEC and has already lost to Auburn once this season (a 78-66 decision on Jan. 20). That game started the Rebels’ current 10-game losing streak, Ole Miss’ longest decline since 2002-03.
Despite Ilias Kamardine and Malik Dia combining for 46 points, the last outing was heartbreaking for Chris Beard’s team, which lost in double overtime to LSU 106-99 on Wednesday.
“We committed a couple of stupid fouls at the end of the game, and we had the ball in our hands a couple times tonight when we were given the opportunity, but we couldn’t finish,” Beard said.
For Ole Miss to break its 10-game losing streak against Auburn, Beard will need Kamardine (11.3 ppg) and Dia (14.1 ppg and 6.1 rebounds per game) back to lead the way. The Rebels last beat the Tigers on February 6, 2021, winning 86-84 in overtime.
–Field level media
