As the rain was coming down outside Humphrey Coliseum Saturday afternoon, it was raining threes inside. The Bulldogs benefited from the battle, hitting 12 three-pointers to Auburn’s six and defeating the Tigers 91-88. Five different Bulldogs connected from long range, including senior Dee Bost (4-6), freshman Rodney Hood (3-5) and sophomore Jalen Steele (3-6).
These threes sparked MSU throughout the game en route to its high-scoring win. MSU’s 91 points was its highest point total in conference play since 2009, and State shot a season best 60.4 percent from the field.
The Bulldogs hope to remain hot on Thursday night when the Ole Miss Rebels come to town. With both teams standing at 4-4 in the SEC, Thursday night’s battle will prove to be a key game as they compete for leverage in the SEC standings.
Heading into Thursday, the Rebels are coming off a deflating double overtime loss at Alabama and the Bulldogs a win over Auburn. Head coach Rick Stansbury’s team has won 12 straight games at the Hump but will need a better defensive effort to continue that streak Thursday.
Defense was non-existent in the first half of Tuesday’s game for both teams; Auburn shot 53.6 percent from the field while MSU shot an astounding 63 percent. Senior Kenny Gabriel led the way for Auburn with 15 points in the half, and he hit a three at the buzzer to give the Tigers a 44-43 lead at half.
Stansbury said Auburn got on a role offensively and got to the free throw line more than anyone else has against State.
“Offense wasn’t a problem for us, but, defensively we didn’t lock in and take care of some things the way we needed to,” he said. “We got to the free throw line but didn’t separate it there like we should have, and that let them hang around. We had a bunch of opportunities to stretch out the lead, but we didn’t.”
For State, Hood led the way with 11 points in the first half, and junior Renardo Sidney added nine. Seniors Brian Bryant and Dee Bost were distributing the ball well as they had six and four assists, respectively, in the half. Bryant finished with a career-high nine assists.
Bost started out the second half hitting a trio of three-pointers and scoring the Dogs’ first 11 points. Then it was Steele who took over and hit consecutive threes to give the Dogs their largest lead of the game at 59-48.
On a day when they were both plagued by foul trouble, Bost and Moultrie did what they do best when they had opportunity. Bost finished with 15 points and seven assists, while Moultrie recorded 21 points and seven rebounds.
However, Bost fouled out with 3:26 remaining in the game, but his teammates kept control of the game and pulled out the victory. Moultrie said when Bost fouled out, the other guys like Bryant and Steele knew they had to step up and handle the flow of the game.
“We learned a lot because Dee is our primary ball handler, so when he comes out, we don’t need to panic,” Moultrie said. “That’s what we did, and that’s why we came out with the win.”
Not encouraging for the Dogs was the fact Auburn was averaging 54 points per game in SEC play and put up 88 on MSU. The Dogs did, however, improve to 11-4 in games decided by 10 points or less. Bost said he is getting tired of the close games because State gets a big lead but lets it slip.
“At first I thought they were slowing the game down, but then they picked it up,” Bost said. “It was a good look for us because they gave us a challenge; we just have to lock down on defense and get stops because we weren’t getting stops like we need to.”
But the story of the game, good and bad, was found behind the lines for State. At the free throw line, MSU was just 21-35. Down the stretch the Dogs were 7-14 from the line and could not put the game away when they had the opportunity.
On the bright side, State’s 63.2 percent shooting from down town was its highest shooting percentage in league play since 2002. Steele has hit 14 three pointers in his last four games and said he feels he is playing his game now.
“I have been real comfortable, and Coach Stansbury tells me to play my game and not worry about anything or think ‘bout anything,” Steele said. “I just go out there and do what I do best and go out there with a free mind and play my game more.”
Steele will need another strong performance Thursday night against the Rebels. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at the Hump as the Bulldogs seek to stay atop the SEC and revenge their loss to Ole Miss earlier this year in Oxford.