Charles Rhodes and the Mississippi State Bulldogs dominated the boards, leading to a finish almost a month in the making.
Rhodes scored 21 points and pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds, as the young Bulldogs (12-10, 2-7 SEC) ended the longest losing streak of Rick Stansbury’s career with a decisive 71-53 victory over the even younger Auburn Tigers (9-10, 1-7) Saturday night.
“Auburn came into this game probably playing their best basketball of the year,” head coach Rick Stansbury said. “The difference in the game was that we had a guy on the inside that was dominant. Charles Rhodes was dominant offensively and defensively. That is where it started for us tonight.”
The seven-game skid was State’s longest since the Richard Williams-led Bulldogs lost nine in a row during the 1986-87 season.
“To win, it’s every team’s goal, and we got the victory,” Rhodes said. “Everyone was celebrating, but I wasn’t celebrating because we have to build from this win. We just can’t win and become inconsistent. We have to stay consistent.”
“Everybody was jumping around, smiling and hugging,” said Jamont Gordon, who added 16 points and seven assists, compared to just three turnovers.
The two teams traded baskets for most of the first half, which saw 10 lead changes before the Bulldogs pulled ahead to take a 33-26 halftime lead. The seven-point advantage was the first time the Bulldogs had the lead at the break since the Jan. 7 home game against Arkansas, their only other SEC win.
Mississippi State looked nothing like a slumping ball club at the beginning of the second half, opening with a 10-0 run to take a commanding 43-26 lead.
“At halftime, coach came in and told us that we had them where we wanted them,” said Dietrich Slater, who scored 10 points and a career-high five steals. “Coach also told us that we had one thing we wanted, we just have to keep the lead.”
Auburn (9-10, 1-7) fell behind by as much as 22 in the second half but was able to trim the deficit down to 10 with 6:52 remaining. Mississippi State then went on a 12-0 run, punctuated by a Jamall Edmondson three-pointer, to seal the game.
Edmondson scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half.
Ronny LeMelle scored 15 points, and Rasheem Barrett added 12 more for the Tigers, who made only four three-pointers out of 26 attempts.
Mississippi State held the Tigers to 34 percent shooting overall and won the rebounding battle 49-33.