The winning streak moves to 14 for Auburn men’s basketball.
The No. 22-ranked Tigers defeated Mississippi State 76-68 after overcoming a 13-point second-half deficit. Bryce Brown led the game in scoring with 23 while Mustapha Heron and Desean Murray added 14 each.
Brown scored 11 of his 23 points after Auburn caught the deficit to five, hitting three 3-pointers.
Auburn continued its successful second-half efforts after scoring 50 points in its second straight game. The Tigers came back from down 10 at halftime against Ole Miss five days earlier.
Auburn is now 4-1 in games when faced with a double-digit deficit.
Though Auburn utilized the second half to win the game, Brown said he couldn’t help but criticize his team’s starting act.
“I wish the first half could have been like the second,” Brown said. “It was all about staying composed and staying together. I feel like that’s what we did.
Auburn outrebounded the Bulldogs 21-16 in the second half en route to Mississippi State’s first loss at home this season.
Malik Dunbar’s 3-point shot with 10:23 remaining put the deficit at one. After two completed free-throw attempts and a jumper by Murray, Auburn held onto the lead.
Quinndary Weatherspoon, who converted a four-point play with 2:58 left to cut Auburn’s lead to two, led the Bulldogs in scoring with 14.
Brown’s jumper that followed sparked a closing 6-0 Auburn run.
“If you turn back around to the Ole Miss game, we were down 10, down 11, just like we were today,” he said. “And just like that game, we stayed composed, stayed together, and we actually played better in the second half because we rebounded better and played more together.”
Bruce Pearl, who is now in his fourth season on the Plains, said his team didn’t look much like the one that took out the Rebels.
“We played passively, played like we were on the road, and didn’t look like a team that had 13 in a row,” he said. “Mississippi State played well, and that had a lot to do with it.”
Pearl said that his team can celebrate now before heading to Tuscaloosa for a late-night Wednesday matchup with the Crimson Tide.
“There’s a prize on our head,” Pearl said. “We’ll celebrate this one for a little bit, but then we’ll get ready for Alabama.”
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