Auburn’s three guards, all of whom would never be mistaken for forwards or centers, went through a world of problems the last time they matched up with Ole Miss’ two, 6-foot-5 guards.

With that in mind heading into tonight’s rematch in Oxford, Auburn coach Jeff Lebo took it upon himself to squash the 3- or 4-inch disadvantage DeWayne Reed, Tay Waller and Frankie Sullivan suffered through in January.

Just a bit of old country medicine should do the trick.

“Our guards are taking fertilizer tablets now as we speak,” Lebo joked Monday.

The quandary, of course, still exists, but the Tigers will face an Ole Miss team that isn’t riding as high as it was when the Rebels escaped Beard-
Eaves-Memorial Coliseum with an 84-74 victory.

Once considered a lock for the NCAA Tournament, the Rebels have lost five of their last six and are NIT-bound at the moment, according to ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi.

Ole Miss, which is just 2-4 at home during conference play, managed its only victory during the stretch when it came back from a 23-point deficit to beat Alabama.

Auburn (13-14, 4-8 SEC) is currently tied with Alabama at fourth place in the SEC West and would move into a tie with Ole Miss for third if it were able to pull off the upset tonight.

Lebo said he doesn’t see much of a difference between Ole Miss then and now, aside from an injury to reserve forward Reginald Buckner. Like Auburn, the Rebels have been on the wrong side of a number of close finishes.

“To me, as far as the West teams, they are as talented as anybody,” Lebo said. “They have great depth in the backcourt. They can shoot it and they can score it. They have a little bit of everything back there.”

Namely, height.

Eniel Polynice and Terrico White, both of whom stand at 6-foot-5, would be great matchups for Lucas Hargrove at forward, but are complete mismatches for Reed, Sullivan and Waller. White had little trouble getting to the hoop or creating easy, short jumpers when the teams met in January, as he scored the bulk of his 19 points in the second half. Polynice chipped in 14 of his own in the Rebels’ victory.

Auburn committed just 11 fouls in the last matchup, with Sullivan and Waller each picking up three. That might seem good on paper, but may have also been indicative of the fact that Auburn wasn’t even close in contesting a number of Ole Miss’ shots.

The Tigers, who typically take less free-throw attempts than their opponents, will strive to find a happy medium tonight, Lebo said.

“You do what we have to do at this time of the year: You have to be aggressive,” Lebo said. “But we have to be playing without fouling. Our bench has to come in and be able to play.”

Enter Earnest Ross.

The freshman, who conveniently measures out at 6-foot-5, hasn’t done much for Auburn on offense, but is considered by Lebo as one of the Tigers’ toughest defenders. Ross’ biggest achievement of the season came against LSU, when he limited LSU’s Tasmin Mitchell to just 8 points in the game’s final 6 minutes. Mitchell finished with 38 points, but Auburn came away with the victory.

“When you go to that lineup, it just hurts you on the offensive end a little bit,” Lebo said. “That is the pickle.”

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AU (13-14, 4-8) at UM (17-9, 5-7)
Where: C.M. “Tad” Smith Coliseum; Oxford, Miss.
When: 7 p.m.
TV/Radio: SEC Network (Channel 6 in Lee County)/WKKR 97.7 FM
Scouting report: The Rebels have cooled off considerably since the last time these two teams met. Ole Miss, once considered a lock for the NCAA Tournament, has lost five out of its last six, with the only win in that stretch coming when it battled back from a 23-point deficit against Alabama earlier in the month. The Rebels are just 2-4 at home against SEC opponents this season. They’ll also be a bit shorthanded when compared to the last meeting also, as big freshman forward Reginald Buckner is out with an injury.
Projected starters Auburn: F Lucas Hargrove (13.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg), F Johnnie Lett (2.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg), G DeWayne Reed (16.0 ppg, 4.4 apg), G Frankie Sullivan (12.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg), G Tay Waller (14.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg)
Projected starters Ole Miss: F Terrance Henry (6.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg), F Murphy Holloway (9.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg), G Chris Warren (16.4 ppg, 3.3 apg), G Eniel Polynice (10.5 ppg, 4.3 apg), G Terrico White (14.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg)