Auburn pulls away from Mississippi State, keeps NCAA Tournament hopes alive
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Auburn, which arrived in Nashville with a 16-15 record and NCAA Tournament hopes flickering at best, faced a halftime deficit in its first-round SEC Tournament game and didn’t blink.
Instead, the Tigers calmly took care of business, outscoring feisty Mississippi State, 49-28, in the final 20 minutes to pull away for a 79-61 victory that was the first of a few necessary steps this week toward that NCAA berth. Auburn is the 12th seed at the SEC Tournament for a reason, as it limped to a 7-11 SEC mark this season and will now try to go on a big run in the Music City to impress the selection committee by the time Sunday arrives.
The 13th-seeded Bulldogs (13-19) were anything but easy fodder in Wednesday afternoon’s first-round tilt, but the Tigers eventually wore them down and advanced to a second-round matchup on Thursday afternoon against No. 5 seed Tennessee (SEC Network).
Kevin Overton led a balanced Auburn attack with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. KeShawn Murphy added 15 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks, Keyshawn Hall chipped in 14 points, and Tahaad Pettiford played a great floor game with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and even 2 blocks for Steven Pearl’s desperate team.
Auburn only shot 42% from the field, 37% from 3-point territory and 64% from the free-throw line, but the Tigers took care of the ball on Wednesday, only turning it over 7 times.
Meanwhile, Auburn clamped down on Mississippi State, especially in the 2nd half when it held the Bulldogs to 28 points. The Tigers forced Mississippi State into 39% shooting, with Josh Hubbard leading the Bulldogs with 22 points while Jayden Epps added 14.
Auburn remained alive for the ultimate prize at the SEC Tournament on Sunday, and here is how Kalshi sees the current odds to win the SEC Tournament:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
