After a two-game burst to start the SEC Tournament, the Mississippi State men’s basketball team’s bid for a conference championship came to a screeching halt on Saturday against No. 12 Auburn.
In what was a disjointed first half, the Bulldogs led by as many as eight at one point, but the Tigers managed to claw their way back into the game and tie it up at 31 going into the intermission.
It didn’t take long in the second half for Auburn to seize the momentum, going on a 12-4 run out of the gates to take a 43-55 lead. Bruce Pearl’s squad never looked back as they kept the lead for the remainder of the game, winning 73-66.
Leading the way for the Tigers were five different players with double-digit scoring, including a team-high 14 points from Chad Baker-Mazara. For Mississippi State, freshman point guard Josh Hubbard had a game-high 20 points while Tolu Smith notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Even though Mississippi State’s run in the SEC Tournament stopped in the semifinals, there’s still more basketball to play as this week’s wins over LSU and Tennessee should be enough to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the second season in a row. The Bulldogs will find out for sure on Sunday at 5 p.m. CT.
