EditorsNote: rewords seventh graf
Senior Austin Wiley posted the 14th double-double of his career and 12th of the season to lead No. 15 Auburn to a 67-58 Southeastern Conference victory over visiting Ole Miss on Tuesday.
Wiley scored a team-high 15 points -- 11 in the second half -- grabbed 11 rebounds, and blocked two shots as the Tigers (24-4, 11-4 SEC) stretched their home winning streak to 19 games.
Breein Tyree struggled from the field (3 of 19) but tied KJ Buffen for high-scoring honors for the game with 16 points for the Rebels (13-15, 4-11).
Auburn freshman Isaac Okoro played and started in his first game since injuring a hamstring against Alabama on Feb. 12 and scored 10 points in 27 minutes. Samir Doughty scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half.
The Rebels cut a seven-point halftime deficit down to 36-33 in the opening minutes of the second half, but Doughty scored five quick points to boost the Tigers' gap up to 41-33.
Shooting woes and turnovers -- six in the first 10 minutes of the second half -- kept Auburn from pulling away, but Ole Miss wasn't able to take full advantage of the Tigers' problems. The Rebels went nearly eight minutes without a field goal in the middle of the second half.
The Rebels still managed to stay in range and were within 49-46 with seven minutes to play before the Tigers outscored them 18-12 the rest of the way.
The Rebels finished shooting only 34 percent from the field to Auburn's 47.1 percent mark, and the Tigers enjoyed a big 38-18 advantage in points in the paint.
The Tigers went on a 12-0 run to build a 25-11 lead approaching the eight-minute mark of the first half as the Rebels committed six turnovers in the first nine minutes. The Rebels went on a 6-1 spurt to get their deficit down to 27-21 with 3:13 left in the period before Auburn settled for a 31-24 halftime lead.
--Field Level Media
