Live Updates for Mississippi State Men's Basketball vs. No. 8 Auburn
Mississippi State is coming off a loss against Florida where anyone not named Josh Hubbard struggled to find the basket. The same can be said for Auburn as they just came from Tuscaloosa and lost against Alabama in one of the best games of the previous week. Both will look for strong wins to boost their resume as March approaches.
What: Mississippi State Bulldogs (13-6, 2-4) versus No. 8 Auburn Tigers (16-3, 5-1)
When: Saturday, 2:30 p.m. CT
Where: Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, Miss.
TV: SEC Network
Auburn Starting Five
K.D. Johnson
Tre Donaldson
Jaylin Williams
Johni Broome
Chris Moore
Mississippi State Starting Five
Josh Hubbard
Shakeel Moore
D.J. Jefferies
Toli Smith III
Cameron Matthews
First Half
First play of the game and State fouls and sends Auburn to the line. Williams makes both. Auburn leads 2-0.
Matthews drives into the paint and finishes a layup. The game is tied.
Matthews drives in again and draws a foul. He misses both. The game is still tied.
Hubbard shoots a midrange and scores. On the other end, MSU forces a shot clock violation. MSU leads 4-2.
MSU turns the ball over and Auburn makes a transition layup. The game is tied.
Smith gets to his spot and makes a layup. MSU leads 6-4.
Auburn gets fouled and makes both of their free throws. The game is tied.
Auburn's Johnson shoots the mid-range and makes it. Auburn leads 8-6.
After an offense rebound from Matthews, Moore hits a three. MSU leads 9-8.
Matthews finds his way into the paint and scores. MSU leads 11-8.
Jimmy Bell Jr. grabs his miss and gets fouled going up. He misses them both. MSU leads 11-8.
Auburn finishes a dunk at the rim. MSU leads 11-10.
Moores flow off a screen and make a layup. MSU leads 13-10.
Matthews is controlling the paint. He follows a Smith miss with a putback dunk. The Bulldogs followed that with another great defensive possession that led to a shot clock violation. MSU leads 15-10.
Auburn hits a three after a Moore miss. MSU leads 15-13.
Matthews finds another basket in the paint. Auburn returns the favor and scores on their end. MSU leads 17-15.
Auburn gets to the line and splits their shots. MSU leads 17-16.
Dashawn Davis scores his first points of the game. MSU leads 19-16.
Auburn scores off a missed rotation but Smith scores a mid-range jumper. MSU leads 21-18.
Auburn hits a three off of a screen and ties the game 21-21.
The end of the half for the Bulldogs was sloppy. Players holding on to the ball allowed the offense to feel stagnate, and forced shots at the end of the shot clocks were common occurrences. The defense has been better compared to previous games against top offenses in the conference.
Second Half
Hubbard opens the second half with a layup generated by the defense but Auburn comes back and scores on the other end. The game is tied 23-23.
Smith finds a cutting Moore and he finishes the layup. Auburn answers with another bucker in the paint. The game is tied 25-25.
Hubbard fires a three and hits it however Auburn is still answering the call. MSU leads 28-27.
After a slow first half on both ends, Both teams have started to find their footing. Hubbard hits a midrange and is starting to find a rhythm. MSU leads 30-27.
Smith has started to find people out of the post whenever he starts to feel the double. MSU leads 32-27
Moore gets fouled and splits his free throws at the line. Auburn drives the court and hits a three. MSU leads 33-30.
Hubbard gets hit by a screen and Auburn hits a three but Josh returns the favor hitting one of his own. MSU leads 36-33.
Auburn gets sent to the line and they make both of their free throws. MSU leads 36-35.
Shawn Jones Jr. throws a dot to Hubbard who finishes the layup. MSU leads 38-35.
Auburn is following their shot and gets a putback dunk. MSU leads 38-37
Jones Jr makes a three after a great pass. Auburn makes one of their MSU leads 41-40.
Smith is playing one of his smartest games of the year finding another person out of a double team for an easy basket. MSU leads 43-40.
Another basket for the Bulldogs as the momentum is in their favor. MSU leads 45-40.
Auburn gets sent to the line and splits the free throws. MSU leads 45-41.
Mistakes on both ends for the Bulldogs. Auburn finds the open man for a dunk and a turnover by Matthews that leads to a potential and-one that the Tigers take advantage of. Auburn leads 46-45.
Jefferies makes his man jump and finds an open Smith for a dunk. MSU leads 47-46.
After a Jefferies steal, Matthews gets fouled hard and takes a rough landing on his back. He gets sent to the line and splits them both. MSU leads 48-46.
Smith gets the steal and finishes in the paint. MSU leads 50-46.
Matthews fouls and Auburn finishes the and-one. MSU leads 50-49.
Matthews spins off a defender and draws the contact for a foul. He splits them but follows his miss and scores another basket. MSU leads 53-49.
Auburn is in the bonus and gets sent to the line to make both free throws. MSU leads 53-51.
Jefferies follows a Smith miss with a tip in and the Tigers find an open man in transition for a three. MSU leads 55-54.
Hubbard hits a massive three from an out-of-bounds play. MSU leads 58-54.
Auburn gets fouled and closes the gap at the line. MSU leads 58-56.
Smith gets fouled and splits his free throws. MSU leads 59-56.
Auburn internally fouls Moore and he makes both of his free throws. MSU leads 61-56.
Auburn misses its 3-pointer and fouls Jefferies. He splits them. MSU leads 62-56.
Auburn inbounds the ball and scores in the paint with 11.6 left in the game. MSU leads 62-58.
Jefferies gets fouled again and makes them both. It was the first time all night that the Bulldogs made both at the line. MSU leads 64-58.
Final: Mississippi State 64, Auburn 58
