Davis, Ole Miss rally after halftime to defeat Auburn

Terence Davis scored 26 points, all after halftime, as Mississippi erased a 23-point second half deficit Saturday to defeat Auburn 90-84.

Cullen Neal scored 20 points for the Rebels (15-10, 6-6 Southeastern Conference) and Deandre Burnett added 18 points, including 10 free throws in the final 1:17 to preserve the win. Sebastian Saiz added 10 points and a team-high 8 rebounds for the Rebels.

Auburn (16-9, 5-7) was led by Ronnie Johnson with 18 points, while Mustapha Heron and Danjel Purifoy added 16 and 12 points, respectively.

The Tigers built a 52-29 lead on a 3-point shot by Heron with 18:13 left before the decisive surge by the Rebels.

The Rebels led 78-71 on a Davis layup with 2:08 left, setting up 12 consecutive free throws, 10 by Burnett, to seal it. The Rebels finished 27 of 31 (87 percent) from the free throw line and 29 of 66 (43 percent) from the field.

Auburn was 33 of 69 (48 percent) from the field, 13 of 30 (43 percent) from 3-point range, including 4 of 6 by Johnson. The Tigers were only 5 of 8 from the free throw line and had 20 turnovers.

The Tigers have lost 10 straight in the series, stretching back to 2012. The Tigers had first half runs of 13-0, 12-0 and 10-0 to build a seemingly insurmountable 47-27 halftime lead. Along with 18 points, Johnson added 8 assists and 3 steals.

The Rebels have won three of the last four starts. Ole Miss is 108 of 128 (84 percent) from the free throw line in the last five games.

Neal came off the bench to hit 3 shots from 3-point range, add a team-high five assists and finish 7 of 7 from the free throw line. The only other time the Rebels rallied from a 23-point deficit to win was in2010 against Alabama.

This story was originally published February 11, 2017 at 8:12 PM with the headline "Davis, Ole Miss rally after halftime to defeat Auburn."