By Brant Daughtry

Help Wanted

We’ve talked about Ole Miss basketball before. Kermit Davis is still a coach on the hot seat, especially given the names of current candidates, and it doesn’t look like he’s long for this job. They’re 10-17, with an awful 2-12 record in conference play. They’re not much of a threat. And that’s what makes them dangerous.

A loss to Ole Miss, while unlikely, is the thing that would mostly keep Auburn from an NCAA Tournament appearance. The Tigers haven’t looked great against most of the good teams they’ve played, but they have avoided the cardinal sin of losing to bad teams, save Georgia a few months ago. A loss to a team struggling as bad as the Rebel-Black Bear-Land Sharks are would undo that.

The good news is that Auburn has this game at home, and Auburn came out with a nine-point victory in Oxford earlier this year. Wendell Green and Johni Broome were your major contributors, with 42 points between them. Broome also logged 11 rebounds against an overmatched team as far as size. Auburn will need more of that from those two. Another thing to note is that those two very rarely have two bad games in a row. As effective as Broome was against Vanderbilt, Green struggled. Look for him to bounce back.

Players to Watch For:

Guard Matthew Murrell, #11- I wrote about Murrell in the first matchup, and he was the leading scorer in the game with 24 points. Auburn has done a significantly better job in recent games at defending good guards, but this will be another test.

Forward Jamey Brakefield, #4- Brakefield was the other player in the first matchup that played over 30 minutes. He’s not as good a scorer, but still logged double digits in points.

A lot has been made of Auburn’s recent struggles, and with good reason. However, the thought that Auburn has been knocked out of the Tournament is unwarranted. They still have a flawless record against Quad 3 and 4 teams, and a good record against Quad 2. They have struggled against Quad 1 teams, but they have kept every game close, and that does matter. Now, if Auburn loses this game, that starts to change. Auburn’s last four are this one, then three Quad 1 teams with two on the road. That’s pretty tough. Going 2-2 would be a major accomplishment. However, the road is there. First thing has to come first though, and a win against Ole Miss would be a great start to the last leg of the season.