Gaskins kept believing

- TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Trevor Gaskins never stopped believing, but in the body of work there was little game-day production to sustain his faith - until Saturday.

Recruited as a 3-point shooter, Gaskins had struggled most of the season before going 4-for-7 from the arc against Alabama.

His four makes were his SEC season-high, as he surpassed two made 3-pointers for just the second time - and first since going 3-for-3 at Georgia on Jan. 13 - against an SEC foe.

"He's always passionate, sometimes too much, and you can always count on Trev to put in the time in the gym," Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. "It was good to see him rewarded."

Though Gaskins played 13 minutes against Auburn, his floor time had decreased of late. He played a season-low two minutes against Florida a week ago.

"Our coaches kept telling me to be ready to make big plays and do big things," Gaskins said. "I just wanted to step up and make shots, get steals, rebounds, do anything to bring energy."

But making the shots - He was 5-for-9 from the floor - gave him a confidence boost.

"Shooting's all about confidence. Coach kept telling me it was 1-2 and up, 1-2 up. Today I shot it 1-2 and up."

Comeback Kids

- Saturday's win was the ninth this season for Ole Miss in which it trailed in the second half.

No teams know of the Rebels' comeback prowess more than the two SEC members from the state of Alabama.

The Rebels were down 23 points with 19 minutes left when they came back to beat Alabama 74-67 in Oxford.

They were down 14 points with just under 11 minutes to play when they rallied to beat Auburn 85-75 Wednesday and also trailed Auburn in the second half when they won 84-74 at Auburn on Jan. 28.

The Rebels' sweep of Alabama is their first since 1998, and Saturday's win also gives Ole Miss a sweep of both Alabama and Auburn in the same season for the first time ever.

SEC seeding, road success

- A rare win at Coleman Coliseum gurantees Ole Miss at least the No. 3 seed in the SEC West. The Rebels are now tied for second in the division with Arkansas, which lost 89-72 at home to Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Ole Miss closes the regular season at Arkansas this Saturday.

Ole Miss had not won at Coleman Coliseum since 2006 and was just 5-35 in the building going into the game.

The Rebels are 4-3 on the SEC road, 5-4 in all road games.

Quotable

- "When we found ourselves down 11 with a little less than 10 minutes to go, I thought our energy picked up. We got a couple of steals in the halfcourt trap, and that allowed us to get some baskets." - Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy

Contact Parrish Alford at 678-1600 or parrish.alford@djournal.com