Following a close loss on the road in which it saw its winning streak end in Tuscaloosa, Auburn basketball looks to get itself back into the win column as it enters the middle third of its SEC schedule.
The Tigers hit the road again, this time to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville, Mississippi. Auburn holds a five-game winning streak in this series, including wins each of the last two times that the teams have met at Humphrey Coliseum.
The men in orange and blue enter the game with a 16-3 (5-1) record after a 79-75 defeat by arch-rival Alabama on Wednesday in Coleman Coliseum. Despite making a big surge in the second half after trailing by 14 at the break, the nine first half turnovers and the lack of 3-pointers were enough to keep the Tigers from victory.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs also look to rebound after a loss of their own, losing to Florida 79-70 on Wednesday. They enter with a 13-6 (2-4) record, sitting 11th in the SEC.
Mississippi State will not be entering this game blindly though, as it has been in this position before. The last time it faced a top-10 team after a loss, it defeated No. 5 Tennessee at home earlier this month.
Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl knows it will be a tough place to play in for his squad.
“This one’s a hard sell out, and I’ve not been to Starkville where the game has been sold out,” Pearl said. “And so it has something to do with us coming in ranked. It also has a lot to do with their team – a very, very veteran team, one of the older teams in college basketball and a team that’s got postseason aspirations.”
Trailing by nine at halftime, the Bulldogs never seemed to find a rhythm in their shooting game, shooting just 38.7% from the floor and 24.2% from beyond the arc on the night. Despite going shot for shot with the Gators in the second half, Mississippi State never found enough momentum to gain the lead back after letting it slip away midway through the first half.
The Bulldogs enter the game averaging 74.7 points per game, which ranks them 171st in the nation for scoring offense. Due to the nature of Auburn’s offense, which scores 83.3 points per game, Mississippi State needs to rely on its defense to keep the Tigers in check, as it only gives up 66.4 points on average.
“Mississippi State is one of the best defensive teams in our league, therefore one of the better defensive teams in the country,” Pearl said. “Their three-point field goal percentage defense is really good. They put great pressure on the ball.”
Mississippi State is also aggressive on the defensive end, which poses a threat to Auburn’s offense after the Alabama game. The Bulldogs currently post 8.4 steals per game, which is good enough for third in the conference. Auburn has to play smart and confidently as it has done for the majority of this season.
The Auburn defense has also been lethal to its opponents this season, and it is what makes the Tigers one of the toughest teams to play against. The Tigers rank second in the conference and 48th nationally in scoring defense, giving up just 66 points per game.
They also possess the force of one of the top centers in Johni Broome who ranks second in the SEC in both blocks and rebounds per game. Auburn has to utilize him like it has all season to get an advantage over the likes of Tolu Smith, who is a threat inside for Mississippi State.
“Tolu Smith is a dominating inside player,” Pearl said. “He and Johni Broome are two of the bigs in the SEC and like always in these matchups it’s really not Tolu versus Johni. It’s Auburn-Mississippi State, but just giving both those guys some recognition.”
As the Tigers look to bounce back from the loss, they will also try to see if they can continue to be dominant with their lineup depth, something they struggled with on Wednesday.
The 147th meeting between the Tigers and the Bulldogs is set to be played at Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday, Jan. 27 with a tip time of 2:30 p.m. CST. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
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Tyler Raley is a junior from Birmingham, Alabama, majoring in journalism.
Twitter: @traley34
