It took a little loosening up, but Tay Waller may have provided the answer to Auburn’s recent conundrum of playing just one good half of basketball.

“I think we need to work more plays,” the senior guard said Tuesday.

Come again?

“With the team we have now, when we run plays, that’s when we play better,” Waller said. “With most teams, you run plays and you can’t really score;
you run one-on-one instead of plays to get the offense going.

“With the team we have now, we have to run more plays to keep everyone involved in the offense.”

Waller’s take might be just in the theory stage, but the Tigers are in no position to refute potential solutions. They head into tonight’s game against No. 18 Ole Miss reeling from an atrocious second half at Vanderbilt that erased any good feelings elicited from a dominating first 20 minutes.

“It’s very frustrating,” Waller said. “We always put together a good half for a game, but we just have to figure out how to put a whole game together.”

After a so-so effort throughout its conference-opening loss to South Carolina, the Tigers have been unpredictable in their past three losses. It’s even been tough to predict what half will inevitably do in the Tigers.

Against No. 1 Kentucky, it was the first half, when the Tigers trailed by as many as 19 before playing what coach Jeff Lebo considers the “best basketball” of the season. It was too late, of course, and Kentucky escaped with a victory that, at the least, proved Auburn can contend with anyone
when it plays to its potential.

In games against Tennessee and Vanderbilt, Auburn came out hot, taking double-digit leads into the locker room after receiving big contributions from its outside shooters. The end in both, though, wasn’t nearly as inspiring as the Kentucky game, as the Tigers were outscored by a combined 93-49 in the
games’ second halves to leave with two ugly losses.

Lebo said fatigue, especially for key players such as DeWayne Reed and Lucas Hargrove in the wake of Kenny Gabriel’s ankle injury, may have contributed to Saturday’s meltdown, but that’s not where the problems end.

The play of Auburn’s biggest inside threat, Brendon Knox, has seemingly been paramount to the Tigers’ success. The Tigers have lost just one game this season when Knox scores more than 10 points and have been at a definite disadvantage when the 6-foot-10 senior gets into early foul trouble. He scored just 2 points and committed five turnovers against Tennessee and netted just 12 minutes against Vanderbilt.

“We go to Vanderbilt, and when we need to stop a run or get an easy basket, he is not in there,” Lebo said. “We don’t really have another low post consistent scorer for us in there, and you end up playing five-on-four on most of those guys on the perimeter.”

For Waller, Auburn’s problems stem from a knack of panicking when the other team makes a run. In games like Saturday’s at Vanderbilt, the Tigers regressed back to one-on-one basketball when it was clear that they wouldn’t be able to sit on their first-half cushion, Waller said.

That largely took Waller, who scored just 3 points and attempted four shots in the second half, out of the gameplan.

“The more plays we run, the more looks I get,” Waller said. “If we don’t run plays, I stand in the corner a lot.

“It kind of goes both ways.”

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Auburn (10-10, 1-4) vs. No. 18 Ole Miss (15-4, 3-2)
Where: Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum
When: 8:05 p.m.
TV/Radio: ESPNU (Channel 302 Charter Cable)/WKKR 97.7 FM
Scouting report: Ole Miss is much like Auburn, in that it relies heavily on production from its three guards. Chris Warren, Eniel Polynice and Terrico White are averaging more than 41 points per game and can all beat their opponents one-on-one. They can also knock down the 3, which will force Auburn’s guard to play some defense tonight, something they have not exactly done well this season. The Rebels have won three of their last four, with their only setback coming in overtime at Tennessee.
Projected starters Auburn: F Lucas Hargrove (13.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg), F Johnnie Lett (2.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg), G DeWayne Reed (16.5 ppg, 4.5 apg), G Frankie Sullivan (13.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg), G Tay Waller (11.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg)
Projected starters Ole Miss: F Terrance Henry (4.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg), F Murphy Holloway (9.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg), G Chris Warren (16.5 ppg, 3.4 apg), G Eniel Polynice (10.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg), G Terrico White (15.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg)