In their second straight road game, Bruce Pearl’s No. 8 Auburn Tigers struggled offensively and found themselves on the losing end of another Quad One game. Auburn fell to Mississippi State, 64-58, inside Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
“We didn't play as well. We didn't make as many shots. We didn't have as good of an assist-to-turnover ratio. We didn't get easy baskets in transition. We didn't execute,” said head coach Bruce Pearl. “A lot of it had to do with Mississippi State and certainly the environment was tough.”
Against one of the best defenses in the league, Auburn was not able to get it going consistently on the offensive end, shooting a season-worst 34% from the field and hitting only 10 shots in the first half – resulting in a season-low 21 points heading into the locker room.
“Our point guards have got to do a better job of playmaking. And you know, Chad Baker has been a real reliable playmaker. So our playmakers have got to do a better job and our shooters are going to have to make a few more shots,” Pearl said.
The Tigers' four guards totaled 7-of-25 from the field and 4-of-13 from deep. Paired with Johni Broome only getting seven total shots in a season-high 34 minutes due to constant foul trouble by Dylan Cardwell, Auburn struggled to find any real weapon against the Bulldogs.
“When Johni Broome is 5-for-7 and the rest of the team shoots the percentage that they shoot, a better coach would have gotten him the ball more and got the ball to him with more touches and just in better positions,” Pearl said.
Broome led the Tigers with 14 points and seven rebounds on the road, hitting one 3-pointer and blocking three Bulldog shots in the defensive showdown.
What impressed Pearl about Broome’s performance was his ability to limit Mississippi State’s star Tolu Smith III to a season-low nine points on just seven shots down low – Smith’s first game without double-digit points this season.
“I thought that our team, particularly Johni Broome, did an outstanding job defending Tolu Smith. If you would have told me that we would come here and held Tolu to just seven shots and turn him over three times, boy I tell you what, we'd have a fighting chance and we did. So I want to give those guys credit,” Pearl said.
The notable Chris Jans’ defense shined in Starkville, Mississippi once again, outrebounding the Tigers 45-30 and collecting eight more offensive rebounds than the Tigers, turning those into 12 second-chance points.
“You know, we played pretty good defense in the first half. But in the second half while we were better offensively, you know, we just let them get so many second-chance points,” Pearl said.
And while neither offense was particularly special on Saturday, Josh Hubbard, who led the game with 17 points, was able to hit one of the Bulldogs' five 3-pointers in clutch fashion with 1:37 left in the second half to clinch a second win over an AP top 10 team this season for Mississippi State.
The Tigers will return to the friendly confines of Neville Arena following two straight losses on the road to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores on Wednesday, January 31. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. CST with television coverage on ESPN2.
“You have to step up to beat the best teams on your schedule. Johni stepped up this weekend. Johni Broome stepped up in both games. And really nobody else can say that, including the coaching staff,” Pearl said.
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Patrick is a sophomore from Auburn, Alabama, double majoring in journalism and marketing. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
