Ole Miss vs Auburn: Watch out for the 3's

Meanwhile, at the Tad Smith Coliseum...

Our basketball team is going for a three game winning streak in conference play against the Auburn Tigers. The War Eagle Plainsmen have been great at home going 11-3, but only carrying two out of five games while staying in hotels in different cities. Their overall record is 13-8 with a 2-4 conference record.

Auburn has a solid defense with Korvotney Barber grabbing nearly 10 boards a game plus averaging over a block a game. Barber has six double doubles, but the outside shooting of guards Dewayne Reed(35.5 percent), Tay Waller(35.3 percent) and Lucas Hargrove(37.1 percent) against our 2-3 zone could be a match-up nightmare.

Jeff Lebo and the Tigers basically shoot their way to victory or lose by throwing up too many deep shots. With their rebounding improved from last year, the Rebels will have to limit their second chance shots to keep the War Damn Eagles out of the game.

Ole Miss is 12-9 with a 3-4 conference record coming off two surprising wins against Kentucky and at Mississippi State. Terrico White was last seen walking across Sardis Lake, so if he can continue to play at the level he has in the three of the last four games, Ole Miss will have a chance in many of their remaining games. Malcolm White and Murphy Holloway have shown flashes where they are giving good minutes, but they aren't going to be the ones that win a game for you this year. Just try not to screw up too bad guys.

Zach Graham flat out balled outrageous against State in the first half and cooled in the second half. If he can put together an entire 30 to 40 minutes, Graham can be a better scoring option to get pressure off Huertas and White.

Auburn swept the Rebels last season, and I'm pretty much worried that we might be overconfident after a couple good games.

Final prediction: Ole Miss 73 Auburn 68