Early afternoon starts haven’t been kind to the Auburn Tigers this season. That trend continued on Saturday in Nashville.
[autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag]’s team played some of the worst basketball it had over the past month in the first five minutes of the SEC Semifinal against Mississippi State. The good news for the Tigers? They outscored Chris Jan’s bulldogs 69-54 over the final 35 minutes of a 73-66 win.
Mississippi State’s defense was able to frustrate Auburn’s high-ranked offense for most of the afternoon, but the Tigers did just enough to get by. While star [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] wasn’t his usual dominant self after dealing with foul trouble in the first half, he still managed 10 points on the afternoon.
Front-court mate [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag] took over the “do-it-all” forward role with Broome playing only 24 minutes. The winningest player in Auburn history ended his afternoon with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks.
Guards [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag] continued their hot stretch of play, carrying things on the offensive end at times Saturday with timely jump shots and drives to the rim.
The duo finished their afternoon with 27 combined points on an efficient 59/18 from the field. Baker-Mazara finished with a team-high 16.
As for Mississippi State, the Bulldogs ran off the backs of stars Josh Hubbard and Tolu Smith once again. The former struggled for most of the afternoon before getting hot in the middle of the second half, pushing the margin to as close as one possession at points.
The big man Smith was the only player to secure a double-double in the game. He finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds on a 3/8 shooting day.
Auburn showed it can win a gritty, close, tournament game on a nuetral floor with this showing. The Tigers are becoming more and more likely to make a deep run into March.
Bruce Pearl’s team will have a chance to win the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2019 on Sunday against either Florida or Texas A&M.
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