AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Southern Mississippi had a player who knew Chris Porter and a coach who knew Auburn.

The familiarity wasn't enough, though, as Porter scored 13 points Thursday night to lead the Tigers (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 4 AP) to a 56-50 victory over the pesky Eagles.

It was the ninth straight win for Auburn (11-1) since losing to current No. 1 Stanford on Nov. 27.

Southern Miss came into the game with a lot of information on Auburn, thanks to a crash course from center Carlos Booker and assistant coach Robbie Laing. Booker played against Porter several times in the junior college ranks and Laing spent four seasons working under Auburn coach Cliff Ellis.

"Me and him are kind of longtime friends," said Porter, who had several of his shots blocked by Booker -- who had six blocks.

"I knew he was known for blocking shots there, and I figured he would still be doing the same thing."

Southern Miss guard Earl Flowers, who could be heard calling out some of Auburn's plays on the court, said Laing had the Eagles well-versed on the Tigers' schemes.

"That he knew so much about them was one thing," Flowers said. "That and the coaches always do a great job on the scouting report."

But Ellis said it had more to do with Southern Miss (9-2) just being a good team. The Eagles' only other loss this season was a 77-61 upset at Louisiana-Monroe.

"Southern Miss didn't come in here 9-1 because they aren't a good team," Ellis said. "They are legitimate, and I think they are going to make a lot of noise."

The Eagles were able to keep it close despite not making a basket for almost nine minutes in the second half.

They trailed 36-32 after Kilavorus Thompson's jumper at the 14:09 mark. But they didn't make a basket again until Thompson's 3-pointer with 5:14 to play. They also missed six of nine free throws during the stretch.

Auburn, which never trailed in the game, stretched its lead to 46-35 during the Eagles' scoring drought. David Hamilton made consecutive layups to start the 10-3 run.

"The key to winning on the road is getting to the free throw line and knocking down shots," Southern Miss coach James Green said. "We didn't do that."

Despite its scoring woes, Southern Miss was still in a position to win the game. Flowers scored three quick points and David Wall hit a running jumper that cut the score to 48-43 with 3:19 to play.

Auburn's Mamadou N'diaye missed a layup and Southern Miss got the rebound. But Porter stole the ball at the other end, ran the length of the floor and missed a wide-open dunk. Daymeon Fishback dunked in the rebound, though, and Auburn had a 50-43 lead with 2:35 to play.

Southern Miss had to foul from there.

The Tigers, who shot just 39 percent for the game, outrebounded Southern Miss 40-29. N'diaye had a game-high 11 rebounds and scored 10 points, while Doc Robinson added 11 points.

Flowers was Southern Miss' only player in double figures, scoring 10 points.