Takeaways: No. 21 Auburn wins defensive battle against Mississippi State

AUBURN — On Saturday night, No. 21 Auburn returned home to Neville Arena for a defensive battle against Mississippi State. This marks the Tigers’ 28th consecutive home win, the second-best active streak in the country, just behind Gonzaga (75).

The final score: Auburn 69, Mississippi State 63

The Tigers’ third straight conference win advances them to 4-1 in the SEC.

For a team that holds opponents to an average of 56.8 points per game (ranked 5th nationally), the Bulldogs were not able to hold off the Tigers’ offense tonight. Auburn is just one of four schools to score more than 65 points on Mississippi State.

The Tigers are on the road next week, traveling to Baton Rouge, La. for their midweek matchup and Columbia, Sc. for Saturday night’s game. They will return to Neville Arena on Wednesday, January 25th to compete against Texas A&M at 8 p.m. CT.

“I think that what I talk to the guys about now, going to play two games on the road now, I just compliment them on the position that they put themselves in,” Bruce Pearl said. “They’ve put themselves in a great position of 14-3.”

Here are some initial takeaways from tonight’s win.

Jaylin Williams, have a day

Scoring 13 of Auburn’s first 15 points tonight, Jaylin Williams led the team with 21 points. He also recorded seven rebounds, tying Allen Flanigan for first on the team.

Before tonight, the senior averaged 9.9 points per game this season and just 7.5 in his career.

This is the second straight strong outing for Williams. Against Ole Miss, he registered 12 points, five assists, and two steals. Tonight, Williams finished five-for-seven from deep, just his second time in his career that he has made more than four three-pointers in a game (first coming against Ole Miss).

“I thought, Jaylin Williams, that was one of the best games I’ve ever seen him play,” Pearl said after the game. “…It was as hard and as physical as I’ve ever seen him play… If you want to give anybody credit for winning this game then I’d give it to Jaylin Williams.”

J Will in his 🎒 tonight! #WarEagle x @iso__jaywill pic.twitter.com/l4CGCuWcHE

— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) January 15, 2023

Other notable players

With Chris Moore out due to injury, Allen Flanigan recorded his second start this season. The senior recorded 10 points, marking his fourth straight game in double digits. Wendell Green Jr. also extended his double digit streak to three games, scoring 17 points. In the final two minutes alone, Green scored 11 points, seven being free throws on seven attempts. This marks back-to-back games with a 100% free throw rate for the junior. Both Flanigan and Green tied for the team lead in assists with three.

Senior Lior Berman played a season-high of 13 minutes tonight at the three position. He finished up with three points and three rebounds.

“Lior was solid, solid defensively,” Pearl said. “He got pressured in the first half and they thought they were going to kind of take advantage of him a little bit and he spun off and pulled up and made a shot… Obviously, he’s out there at the end of the game, so it shows you what my confidence level is in him.”

A defensive battle

Currently, Auburn is ranked No. 15 and Mississippi State is No. 7 in defensive efficiency according to KenPom. The Tigers are holding opponents to 63.2 points per game as well as 39.3 percent shooting from the field and 27.0 percent shooting from downtown.

Williams’ aforementioned hot start got Auburn off to a quick lead, but the Tigers had a dry stretch, scoring just three points in seven minutes of game time during the first half. Right before half, however, they had five quick points to extend their lead to 30-22 heading into the locker room.

The Bulldogs are known for forcing turnovers this season and providing lots of pressure on defense. Tonight, they forced 20 Tiger turnovers. Auburn, on the other hand, forced 16. Mississippi State gained 17 points off turnovers while Auburn followed with 14.

“We did not take care of the ball as well as we should have,” Bruce Pearl said after the game. “…Making plays on both ends of the floor. That’s what you’ve got to do to win.”

Fouling on both sides

In the first half tonight, not a single free throw attempt was made for both teams. Auburn headed into the locker room at halftime with just five team fouls, two more than Mississippi State’s three.

Both teams had more fouls in the second half and combined for 41 attempts by the end of the game. The Bulldogs ended the game with 21 points off 28 free throw attempts. Auburn made 10 of just 13 attempts.

“We’ve got to do a better job of defending without fouling and do a better job of ourselves, being able to get to the foul line,” Pearl told the media after the game.

Mississippi State’s Tolu Smith is No. 3 nationally in fouls drawn per 40 minutes and No. 5 nationally when it comes to free throw rate. Tonight, though, he only had four points on six attempts.

“As far as Mississippi State… they get to the foul line 28 times in the second half,” Pearl said. “We had the lead the whole time, we weren’t, obviously, trying to foul them.”

Late in the game, Williams fouled out and Johni Broome was in foul trouble with four. Mississippi State’s D.J. Jeffries also had found trouble late in the game.

Stats

— Mississippi State didn’t make a single three-point attempt tonight. Auburn made a season-high 11.

— Auburn trailed for a combined 56 seconds tonight.