Mississippi State’s Second Half Rally Falls Short at Auburn

(Photo Courtesy: Kelly Price, MSU Athletics)

AUBURN, Ala. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) — Bryce Brown scored 18 points and Mustapha Heron added 17 to help Auburn hold off a Mississippi State comeback attempt and win 98-92 Tuesday night.

The Tigers (16-8, 5-6 Southeastern Conference) raced to a 20-point halftime lead behind a barrage of eight 3s, then held on for dear life when those outside shots quit falling.

Mississippi State (14-9, 5-6), which had just rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat Tennessee, couldn’t quite stage a repeat performance after trailing 48-28 at halftime. The Bulldogs trimmed a 21-point deficit down to 91-86 with 51 seconds left to put a scare into Auburn.

Lamar Peters hit 5 of 6 free throws in a 16-second span to keep Mississippi State within range.

Jared Harper and Mustapha Heron each made a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds after Brown missed both attempts following a technical foul against Mississippi State’s Xavian Stapleton.

Austin Wiley had 14 points and T.J. Dunans 11 for the Tigers, who also blew most of a big lead last Saturday against Alabama before eking out a win. Ronnie Johnson had a season-best eight assists and scored six points.

Quinndary Weatherspoon led the Bulldogs with 25 points and nine rebounds. Peters scored 23 and made 10 of 11 free throws. Mario Kegler scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half before fouling out.

BIG PICTURE

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs shot 18 of 31 (58 percent) and made eight 3-pointers in the second half. Bulldogs hit 27 of 34 from the line.

Auburn: The Tigers have won three of their last four games. … Made 8 of 15 3-pointers in the first half and 1 of 7 in the second. … Forward Horace Spencer missed his second straight game with a left shoulder injury.

UP NEXT

Mississippi State hosts No. 19 South Carolina, which lost 90-86 to Alaba