Sophomore guard Earnest Ross paced the Tigers with 21 points while junior guard Kenny Gabriel added 18 of his own to help give Auburn (9-15) its second conference win after defeating Mississippi State (13-11) 65-62 Saturday in the Auburn Arena.
"I thought the last three minutes were solid," said head coach Tony Barbee. "We did some things defensively, and they (Mississippi State) also missed some shots that they didn't miss early in the game. The thing I liked, down whatever it was in the second half, the guys didn't pack it in. We haven't all year long, but all I talked about was being mean and nasty and tough and then come winning time, let's not break down defensively."
The Tigers opened scoring with a 3-pointer from Gabriel, followed by a layup from Mississippi State's freshman guard Jalen Steele to bring the score to 3-2 after two minutes played.
Both teams traded scores and were tied at 13 before a jumper from Mississippi State sophomore forward Renardo Sidney gave the Bulldogs a two-point advantage, a lead it would not relinquish until late in the second half.
The jumper started a 9-0 Bulldog run that was ended by Ross to bring the score to 15-24 with 5:21 left in the half.
"It was tough," Ross said. "Coach (Barbee) told us to keep believing in our game and fighting back. We kept on, and I am glad that we came out with the win tonight. Coach told us that as long as we believe, we have a chance to win and at least compete in every game."
The first half also saw the return of sophomore center Rob Chubb who scored his first points on a layup with 3:29 left in the half.
"Chubb is again disappointed in the decision he made, but at the same time, he is a college kid," Barbee said. "What most college kids do, like most of us did when we were in college, we made dumb decisions. It doesn't mean you throw him under the bus and forget about him. He served his punishment. It hurt the team, not having him for that two game stretch and nine or 10 practices. I thought he did the right things. He apologized sincerely to everybody. As much as he embarrassed this program and me and his family, more importantly he embarrassed himself, and he truly understands that. He's back and he contributed to us winning today."
Chubb finished the game shooting 3-5, scoring six points.
The Bulldogs opened the second half with a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Riley Benock and slowly build up a 19-point lead midway through the second half.
Auburn worked to reduce the deficit and brought the boisterous crowd of 9,121 to its feet after a steal and dunk by Gabriel brought the Tigers within four points with 3:35 left in the game.
"It was the loudest since the Alabama game," Gabriel said. "We try to get the arena like this every night."
Gabriel hit his second 3-pointer just minutes later to give the Tigers their first lead since 12:44 in the first half.
Auburn's 19-point comeback marks the biggest comeback since the Tigers were down 19 at Louisiana State University Jan. 9, 1999.
"They were making bad passes and giving us a big chance to get in the passing lanes, get layups and draw fouls at the other end," Gabriel said. "You get frustrated when things don't go your way."
Auburn returns to the court Feb. 16 as they travel to Oxford, Miss. to face the Ole Miss Rebels in Tad Smith Coliseum at 7 p.m.
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