Wins in the Southeastern Conference don’t come easy.
They’re even harder to come by against the No. 18 team in the nation.
Auburn point guard Quantez Robertson had a painful reminder of that fact in the final seconds of AU’s dramatic 80-77 win against No. 18 Ole Miss on Saturday.
An elbow from Ole Miss’ Trevor Gaskins with five seconds left knocked Robertson out of the game with a bloody nose. Several minutes later, as the last celebrating fans trickled out of Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum, Robertson was still holding a tissue to his nose.
It looked painful. But Robertson said he wouldn’t mind more blows to the face, as long as they’re accompanied by Auburn wins.
“Yeah,” he said with a smile. “Sure — I’ll take them if it means a win.”
Auburn (11-5, 2-2 SEC) is now the proud owner of the SEC’s unlikeliest two-game win streak, with a victory at LSU on Wednesday to go with Saturday’s upset.
AU entered the game with seven healthy scholarship players. Only six played significant minutes against Ole Miss.
It was enough — just barely.
Robertson’s 3-pointer with a minute to play gave AU the lead for good; a parade of made free throws in the final minute clinched it.
And as Robertson’s nose can attest, it wasn’t easy.
AU got a game-high 29 points from forward Frank Tolbert, who sprained his ankle in practice Friday but still played 33 minutes, and 21 points from point guard DeWayne Reed. Both Reed and Robertson played 40 minutes.
“We just battled,” AU head coach Jeff Lebo said.
Battling is nothing new for Auburn. Neither, remarkably, is success against ranked teams: The Tigers are 4-1 against top-25 competition since Jan. 17, 2007.
Ole Miss took its biggest lead of Saturday’s game with 14:11 left, when a Chris Warren 3-pointer put the Rebels ahead 60-54. But Auburn was far from finished.
The Tigers responded with a 16-3 run, including 13 points from Reed, to take a 70-63 lead with 6:31 to play.
Then AU went cold, missing five consecutive shots over a scoreless streak that stretched to 5:21. The dry spell also included struggles at the foul line: The Tigers also twice missed their opening free throws in one-and-one situations.
While Auburn shots clanged off the iron, Ole Miss’ offense settled down. The Rebels’ size advantage inside led to consecutive layups by Kenny Williams to cut the gap to 70-67. 
When AU packed its defenders inside to slow down Williams and Ole Miss center Dwayne Curtis, guard David Huertas tied the score at 70 with a 3-pointer with 3:03 to play.
After the teams traded scoreless possessions, Robertson drilled a 3-pointer with a minute left to put Auburn ahead 73-70. After Ole Miss’ Eniel Polynice missed a 3 on the other end, the game became a free-throw shooting contest for Auburn and a race against the clock for Ole Miss.
The Rebels hit three of their final four shots from the field, but couldn’t stay with AU, which hit seven of 10 free throws in the final minute.
After Barrett hit Auburn’s final free throw with five seconds left, Ole Miss’ Gaskins hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.
By then, the Beard-Eaves crowd of 6,058 was serenading the Rebels, chanting “Over-rated, over-rated.”
Robertson wasn’t so sure.
“They were pretty good,” he said. “They’ve got a good inside game, a good outside game. They’ve got good shooters.
“Fortunately, we were able to contain them a little bit.”
AU won despite an off game from leading scorer Quan Prowell, who managed just 2 points on 1-for-10 shooting — almost 12 points off his 13.8-point per game average. The 6-foot-8 Prowell had 12 rebounds against Ole Miss’ big front line and blocked four shots.
Warren scored 25 points to lead Ole Miss.
Auburn hosts Presbyterian on Tuesday.

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