The University of Mississippi Athletics
Men's Hoops Falls to Unbeaten Auburn
6/21/1999 | Men's Basketball
January 13, 1999
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Scott Pohlman and Doc Robinson had consecutive 3-pointers after Mississippi got close and No. 8 Auburn went on to a 74-59 victory Wednesday night to remain one three NCAA Division I unbeatens.
While extending its winning streak to 16 games, Auburn also snapped Ole Miss' school-record 29-game home-court winning streak, the third longest in the country behind Murray State and No. 2 Duke.
Ole Miss (12-5, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) was within 29-24 early in the second half when Pohlman hit a 3-pointer.
After the Rebels turned it over on a charging call against Jason Smith, Pohlman missed another 3-pointer. But Robinson got the long rebound and popped a 3 to give the Tigers a 35-24 lead with 16 minutes left. The closest Ole Miss got after that was eight points.
Chris Porter had 19 points to lead Auburn, which is 4-0 in the SEC for the first time since 1984. The 16-0 overall start is the best for the Tigers in 40 years, since starting 19-0 in 1958-59.
Of the 310 NCAA Division I teams, only Auburn, No. 1 Connecticut and No. 3 Cincinnati still have not lost. More importantly for the Tigers, they have an early two-game lead in the SEC West.
Keith Carter led Ole Miss with 14 points, while Smith added 12.
During its game home winning streak, Ole Miss had won by an average margin of 29 points. Auburn lost in Oxford twice during the streak, including 74-67 in the regular season finale last year as the Rebels clinched their second straight SEC West title.
Auburn had lost five in a row overall at Ole Miss, which has won 44 of its last 46 games at Tad Smith Coliseum the past three years.
The Ole Miss record streak began with a 73-69 victory over then-defending national champion Kentucky on Jan. 11, 1996. The Rebels next home game is Saturday against the sixth-ranked Wildcats, again the reigning champ.
Auburn was coming off its closest game of the season. LSU had a 19-point second-half lead against Auburn last Saturday, but the Tigers came back to win 73-70 in a game where their first lead was 71-70. That is the only game Auburn has not win by double figures.
