Brief thoughts and grades: No. 1 Auburn over No. 15 Mississippi State

AUBURN -- On another wild night in the SEC when Ole Miss went to Alabama and won, and Missouri went to Florida and won, top-ranked Auburn dominated a likely NCAA Tournament team in Mississippi State without Johni Broome in the lineup. Broome leads the team in points, rebounds, assists and blocks per game, yet Auburn thrived. The Tigers still blocked 10 shots without Broome, scored 88 points without him, and held State to 33 percent shooting while creating 11 steals on the night. At Georgia will be a tough test on Saturday. Things will probably look different away from home without Broome and against a good Georgia team with a good front line. But after Tuesday night, every player on the roster should have experienced a growth in confidence. Get through one more game and Auburn will remain the No. 1 team when Tennessee comes to town on January 25 for one of the biggest home games in Neville Arena history.