On a night he took sole possession of the fifth spot on the SEC’s all-time career 3-pointers list, Bryce Brown was electric.
The senior guard, playing his second-to-last game in Auburn Arena, came into the game with 334 career 3-pointers before knocking down five of his seven attempts in the Tigers’ 80-75 win over Mississippi State.
Brown surpassed Chris Warren for the fifth spot with a 3-ball that gave the Tigers a nine-point lead with 3:37 left in first half. Brown went into the half with only eight points but was an efficient 60 percent from the field.
With the Tigers coming out of the second half with a 33-25 lead, Brown stepped up. He would go on to score 16 of his 24 points while only missing one of his shot attempts.
In one of his best performances of the season, Brown posted the only double-digit plus/minus score, had an effective field goal percentage of 95 and had an offensive rating of 142.4.
“It was nice to see Bryce catching and shooting and being efficient,” said Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl. “It was one of the best games Bryce has ever played.”
This performance comes after back-to-back single-digit outings for Brown and was his first 20-point scoring output since Feb. 2 against Alabama.
“I was just putting extra time in the gym,” Brown said. “Like I said, me and Ant were here late last night getting up shots. I told Ant, the way I look at is, if you get those shots up, you’re going to hit the next game, but if you’re thinking about it and skip a shootaround — I feel like shooting is all confidence and mental. With me, if I don’t get up in the morning or bump shooting this morning, I kind of just have a feeling the next game. It’s not a real confident feeling.
"I just try to stay in the gym and get up shots whenever I can. That’s my job, to shoot the ball. I take pride in that.”
Brown came up big for the Tigers late as Mississippi State had narrowed Auburn’s lead to just four. With Harper driving he whipped a quick pass out to Brown who was standing in the corner open for 3. With the defender closing out fast, Brown launched the ball and the dagger-3 was all Auburn needed to keep Mississippi State away.
The win over Mississippi State was Auburn’s first win over a Quadrant 1 team coming into the game – Auburn’s other Q1 victories eventually became Quadrant 1 after the game had already been played.
“We just beat a really good basketball team,” Pearl said. “I do not want to see them again this year. I am rooting for them. That is a team that can go to the NCAA Tournament and make some noise. They might be one body short but right now the seven guys they are putting out there are as good as anybody. Strong statement.
"We played very well early, because Mississippi State even though it did not look like it, they were prepared, and they played well early. We made some shots, we defended, we made some tough rebounds, and to hold them to 25 points in the first half and to turn them over 18 times during the game was critical.”
The win tonight clinched the second-straight 20-win season for the Tigers and the 11th in program history.
“It means a lot, just knowing where the program came from these last two years,” Brown said. “I feel like, in the last couple of years, we’ve just changed that around. 20-win seasons; I want that to be a normal thing for us now.”
Despite the win, everything was not all great for the Tigers as they missed Austin Wiley’s presence down low after the team was out-rebounded 41-21 and only secured one offensive rebound. The lack of size in the paint will be something to look forward to with two teams remaining that show some solid length at all five positions.
Auburn will now get ready to take on arch-rival Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Tuesday for another chance at a Quadrant 1 win to boost its NCAA Tournament resume.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
