Ole Miss snapped a two-game losing streak Wednesday night, dominating Auburn from the opening tip on its way to a convincing 72-61 win.

Ole Miss improved to 6-3 overall and 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference. Auburn lost for the third straight time in the SEC.

Khadim Sy, who made all three of his 3-point attempts Wednesday, led Ole Miss with 13 points. Luis Rodriguez and Romello White had 12 each.

“We talked about being a second-half team and closing out,” Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis said.

Sy, Davis said, is “coming around in practice” after a series of injuries and illnesses. Sophomore Austin Crowley had his best game in an Ole Miss uniform, getting eight points and 10 rebounds.

“The sky’s the limit for him,” Davis said.

Crowley said he had focused on defending and being more physical.

“Defending and rebounding were probably the two things I was thinking about the most,” Crowley said. “I just want to affect the game in as many ways as I can, as long as I’m out there contributing to the team. It doesn’t matter to me.”

Here are 10 observations from the Rebels’ win:

1. Ole Miss just isn’t a good enough team on offense to close games out with any authority. Rodriguez’s 3-pointer with just less than five minutes left, however, was huge. His dunk on the other end following a steal in the open court was a soul-seizer. Austin Crowley’s lay-up after yet another Tiger turnover gave Ole Miss a 7-0 run in 47 seconds, ending Auburn’s thoughts of a comeback.

“I just thought we had to settle in,” Davis said. “We got loose with the ball. …Luis made a great play.”

“That really sparked us up right there,” Crowley said. “If you went in the locker room right now, you’d think we won the national championship. Now that we have a (win), we’re excited and ready to do it again."

2. Ole Miss came out with a sense of determination. The Rebels swarmed on defense, attacked the basket, closed out on shooters and played with fire. Auburn was fortunate, really, not to get run out of the gym in the first half.

3. Ole Miss’ zone gave Auburn fits. The Tigers were completely discombobulated on the offensive end, only scoring on junk plays around the rim for extended periods of time. Auburn shot just 33 percent from the floor.

4. Even when the Rebels missed, Ole Miss was finding good looks. Ball movement to the post and then back out created open perimeter looks, and when Auburn went to the 1-3-1 zone, Ole Miss found soft spots in the zone for uncontested shots.

5. Ole Miss only had three turnovers in the first half. Given the Rebels’ offensive struggles, they have to protect the basketball. When they do, everything on that end of the floor looks better, more confident, more fluid.

6. Once again, Devontae Shuler struggled on the offensive end, at least shooting the basketball. However, on Wednesday, he distributed the ball, found the open man and his teammates rewarded him by making the open shot. Shuler had 10 assists and committed just two turnovers.

7. Ole Miss really gave Auburn fits. The Tigers never got into any sort of offensive flow. The Rebels were active with their hands, disrupting passing lanes and leaving very few easy looks for the Tigers. Every time Auburn tried to make a run on Wednesday, Ole Miss had a lock-down defensive possession, playing suffocating defense that stopped Auburn from really threatening.

8. Ole Miss won on the boards, 37-35. The Rebels won bench points, 34-9, fast-break points, 9-6, and points in the paint, 28-22.

9. Ole Miss shot just 7-for-23 from the 3-point line. The Rebels are going to have to keep doing the little things well if they’re going to beat the upper-echelon SEC teams. This team is going to have to adopt a blue-collar mentality.

10. Ole Miss closes out its home stand Saturday at 5 p.m. when it entertains South Carolina.