AUBURN Ala. – The state of Alabama has been unkind to the Mississippi State Bulldogs all season. That trend continued Saturday as the Auburn Tigers (11-10, 2-6) handed State its fourth straight road loss, 90-76.
MSU opened the season in Birmingham, Ala., in the Coaches v. Cancer Classic and managed to squeak by mid-majors Fairfield and Birmingham Southern College.
The next trip to the “Heart of Dixie” featured a 49 point shellacking by the Alabama Crimson Tide.
The latest trip to Alabama wasn’t quite as lopsided as the previous, but it left MSU Coach Rick Stansbury just as perplexed.
“For whatever reason, this was just a lackluster effort from the team,” Stansbury said. “We just weren’t very good at either end tonight.”
The Tigers dominated both ends of the court but were particularly lethal on the offensive end. Auburn shot a blistering 60 percent from the floor, including 14 three-point shots.
“It is nice to see, for a whole game, the ball to go in the basket for us,” said Auburn head coach Jeff Lebo. “We were hoping for one of these nights, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for these kids.”
MSU had a five-point lead three minutes into the first half, but Auburn quickly erased the deficit and executed a 33-7 run to go up 40-16 with 3:45 remaining in the half.
The run was highlighted by seven three-points shots from the Tiger guards.
State closed the gap slightly in the final 2:47 to go into the locker room down 46-27.
“Offensively, everything they (Auburn) shot seemed to go in no matter what we did defensively,” Stansbury said. “They were the best team out there today. They were also the most prepared team.”
On top of sharp shooting, the Tigers were also able to shut down the Dawgs’ offense. Auburn’s combination of man and zone left State confused and standing still.
“Coach Lebo did a good job disguising their defense,” Shane Power said. “Coach Stansbury prepared us for that all week, but Coach Stansbury’s players, myself included, didn’t follow through with the game plan.”
In the second half, Bulldog big man Marcus Campbell was replaced by Dietric Slater. The change gave MSU a quicker team on the floor but also served as punishment for an unproductive half from Campbell.
Campbell played just five minutes in the opening frame and failed to score over the undersized Tigers.
“There weren’t that many adjustments made at halftime. There was one guy who didn’t play anymore. He didn’t get off the bench,” Stansbury said about Campbell. “He just wasn’t playing.”
The switch did fuel a more productive offensive half from the Bulldogs. MSU scored 49 points in the half and threatened the Tiger lead late in the period. The Dawgs switched to a full court press defense late in the second half and forced missed shots and turnovers from the Tigers.
With 2:12 the Bulldogs cut the lead to 11 at 85-74 after a Power steal that led to a lay-up by Gary Ervin. Auburn pushed the lead back out to 12 on one-of-two free throw shooting by Douglas. With a chance to cut the lead to 10, Gary Ervin once again penetrated the lane but his lay-up was short. Frank Tolbert secured the rebound and the game for Auburn.
The Tiger barrage was led by Tolbert who scored a career high 29 points and had four of Auburn’s 14 three-pointers. Auburn had three other players in double digits. Toney Douglas had 21 and Quinnel Brown chipped in 16. Nathan Watson added 13 for the Plainsmen.
Surprisingly, MSU had five players in double figures scoring. Power led the MSU offensive with 18 points while Lawrence Roberts had 16. Ontario Harper added 13, and Jamall Edmondson and Slater each had 11.