Coming off a loss in Knoxville, #5 Auburn will attempt to bounce back against Mississippi State in its final road game of the season. A win in Starkville would clinch the Tigers at least a share of the SEC regular season title.
“The regular-season championship in the SEC is the greatest prize,” said head coach Bruce Pearl. “This year, when the league's as good as it's ever been, that's historic.”
The team standing between the Tigers and their chance to clinch tomorrow is Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs are 17-12 on the season and 8-8 in conference play and are coming off of a 79-74 win against Vanderbilt. They are most likely headed to the NIT, but are a talented team led by Iverson Molinar who leads the SEC in scoring this season.
The Bulldogs have been tough at home, as they have knocked off Alabama and Arkansas in Starkville and have only lost once at home during conference play.
SEC teams are scoring 24% of their points against Auburn from the free-throw line, and the Bulldogs are a team that has been able to get to the line consistently as they average 21.3 free throw attempts per game which is 20th in the country.
Mississippi State runs a bit of a throwback offense, as they don’t shoot many threes, ranking 345th in the country in threes attempted per game and will run a lot of offense out of a 3-out-2-in system (three players out on the perimeter and two down low).
Mississippi State will dump the ball down low to their two bigs Garrison Brooks and Tolu Smith and tell them to go to work down on the block.
When those two get the ball on the block, they are usually trying to score, but both have shown an ability to make passes to open players and cutters if the defense decides to crash on them.
The Bulldogs are led offensively by Molinar, who is averaging 18.1 points per game on the season.
Molinar does not do much scoring from behind the arc, as he is making just under one three per night, but he is an explosive guard that can get to the rim in a lot of ways. He will usually use a screen to try and get to the basket, but he has the ability to blow by his guy without a pick and get to the hoop.
Mississippi State will also run a lot of two-man action between Molinar and Brooks and Smith whether it be pick-and-rolls, dump downs to Brooks in the post, or dribble handoffs.
Defensively, the Bulldogs have the ability to switch on the perimeter with Molinar and D.J. Jeffries, but their bigs will drop on pick-and-roll coverage which will take away the threat of a lob but should give Auburn’s guards some pull up jumper opportunities.
Wendell Green Jr. took a lot of shots on Saturday and while he had a rough game and missed some open shots, a good amount of his shots were taken because none of the other guards or wings were taking shots.
Allen Flanigan and Zep Jasper combined to only take four shots, and for Auburn to be at its best, those two need to be more aggressive. With the way the Bulldogs defend, shots will be there for the guards and they will need to take advantage.
Auburn guard K.D. Johnson had been in a slump prior to the Tennessee game but was able to post 19 points on 7 of 13 shooting. He was also able to get to the line and shoot 10 free throws. Johnson drove to the basket aggressively on Saturday and was rewarded for it.
The key to the game for both teams is Walker Kessler. With the way that the Bulldogs play offensively, this could be a big game block-wise for Kessler, but if the Bulldogs find a way to get him in foul trouble then their offense could really open up with Kessler off the floor.
The Tigers and Bulldogs will face off in Starkville on Wednesday, March 2. The game will tip-off at 8 p.m. CST and will air on the SEC Network.
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Henry is a sophomore from Dallas, Texas. This is his second year with The Auburn Plainsman.
Twitter: @Henry_Patton23
