Men's Hoops Outlasted by No. 8 Auburn, 80-68

Saturday, January 4

Starkville

3:30 PM

Mississippi State

9-4 (0-1SEC)

#8 Auburn

13-0 (1-0SEC)

Auburn

Mississippi State

Men's Hoops Outlasted by No. 8 Auburn, 80-68

January 04, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score VIDEO: Coach Howland Presser Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery Quotes (PDF)

by Mikaela Elizondo, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – Reggie Perry and Robert Woodard II came away with double-doubles en route to a combined 33 points and 24 rebounds, but the Mississippi State men's basketball team was dealt an 80-68 setback by No. 8 Auburn during Saturday's SEC opener for both teams at Humphrey Coliseum.

The Bulldogs (9-4, 0-1 SEC) started SEC action against a ranked opponent for the third time in the last five seasons under coach Ben Howland. It marked sixth time overall and the first time since 2001-02 that Mississippi State faced a top 10 opponent to start SEC play. The Bulldogs dropped to 3-3 in those contests and were handed their 26th consecutive defeat by a top 10 foe dating back to 2002-03.

The win kept Auburn (13-0, 1-0 SEC) as one of the nation's two remaining undefeated teams and marked only the third time in 18 meetings going back to 2000-01 that the Tigers won in Starkville.

Perry amassed 15 of his SEC career-high tying 21 points during the second half. He also pulled down 12 rebounds to corral his third straight double-double and SEC-leading seventh double-double of the season. The sophomore's 16 career double-doubles is tops among SEC active players.

Woodard II compiled his third double-double of the season and fourth of his career as he worked his way to 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Perry-Woodard II grabbed 13 of their 24 boards on the offensive end.

Nick Weatherspoon joined Perry and Woodard II in double figures as he dialed up a season-high 18 points and was 6-of-7 at the foul line. He also recorded two blocks and handed out a pair of assists.

Abdul Ado filled the box score and nearly turned in the program's first double-double in rebounds and blocks ignited by a career-best nine rejections and 11 rebounds. He also recorded six points and two steals in his 32 minutes of action.

The nine blocks enabled Ado to move past Charles Rhodes (2005-06-07-08) into eighth place in program history and are the most by a MSU player since the NCAA's all-time blocks leader, Jarvis Varnado, also tallied nine at No. 18 Vanderbilt on Feb. 3, 2010.

Tyson Carter, Iverson Molinar and D.J. Stewart Jr. rounded out the scoring. Carter and Molinar chipped in four points apiece, while Stewart Jr. added three and two rebounds. Carter also chipped in four rebounds and two assists.

For the contest, MSU hit 23-of-68 shots from the field (33.8 percent), 3-of-13 shots from 3-point range (23.1 percent) and 19-of-23 shots from the foul line (82.6 percent). The 33.8 percent shooting clip was a season low for the Bulldogs who entered the contest at 48.1 percent which was second in the SEC.

State battled to win a hotly-contested and physical battle of the boards with a 46-44 advantage en route to its highest rebounding output of the season. The Bulldogs had six assists and 14 turnovers, while the Tigers (13-0, 1-0 SEC) had nine assists and 12 turnovers. The 12-block performance for the Bulldogs is the second-highest team total under Howland.

Auburn shot 27-of-65 overall (41.5 percent), 5-of-22 on three-pointers (22.7 percent) and 21-of-30 at the charity stripe (70.0 percent). The Tigers received a career-best 28 points from J'Von McCormick as all five starters registered double figures. Samir Doughty, Isaac Okoro and Danjel Purifoy tacked on 15, 14 and 11 points, respectively, in addition to eight rebounds each.

FROM THE BENCH WITH COACH HOWLAND
"I thought the defense that we played to start this game was about as good as we have played all year. I think they had nine points with 7:20 left in the first half. We could not get it going offensively. We had so many opportunities in transition. We had 10 turnovers in the first half. We got sped up, I felt like. We were playing too fast instead of having poise out there in transition. When you get a stop, you get the chance to run out in transition. I thought we didn't capitalize on that. Give them credit, it is a very good team. They have five seniors and a lot of poise. Even when they were down 18-9 or so, they ended up taking a five-point lead going into halftime."

"Their point guard [McCormick] was the dominant player in today's game. I thought he was really the key guy for Auburn all day. He made great decisions and really made huge shots. I am sure that is a career high, I would guess, 28 points for him. He has been playing well all year. He really was key. He made big shots, and he had three offensive rebounds. We talked about that. He rebounds his own misses when he misses, especially around the basket. They were all big baskets. Give Auburn credit. They are a very good team, very well-coached. They are returning a lot of guys off a team that had great year last year."

"I thought he [Abdul Ado] was great, especially on the defensive end blocking shots. He did so many good things for us. We've got to get him the ball more because he's scoring much better and making his foul shots. He did a great job on the offensive glass. He got three rebounds there. He played with a lot of heart and a lot of toughness today. As you guys know, I love Abdul and his fight for his team."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The two teams played within two points of each other during the first 5:14 of the contest. Then, Mississippi State made its move behind a 12-3 run over the next 7:56 to build a nine-point lead.

Tied 6-6 at the 15:20 mark, Nick Weatherspoon drove to the cup for a layup to ignite the spurt. A Robert Woodard II trey and dunk got the crowd to its feet as the Bulldogs went up 18-9 with 7:24 to go.

Auburn regrouped behind the next nine points and drew even at 18-18 on a J'Von McCormick midrange jumper with 3:48 remaining.

The Tigers continued to push and closed the half on a 20-6 stretch over the last seven minutes. A Nick Weatherspoon runner on the right baseline at the buzzer cut the Auburn lead to 29-24 at halftime.

Auburn began the second 20 minutes where it left off and took a 38-26 edge with 16:24 left.

State found themselves trailing 41-31 at the 14:32 mark before the Bulldogs ripped off 10 of the next 12 points. The Bulldogs attacked the basket and drained eight consecutive free throws to bring the score to 41-39 with 12:29 to go.

McCormick provided an answer for the Tigers with a trey, and Isaac Okoro threw down a transition dunk to extend their lead back to 48-41 with 11:01 remaining.

Mississippi State fired back with a five-point flurry courtesy of a Weatherspoon old school three-point play, and a Woodard II two-hand baseline dunk courtesy off a nice bounce pass from Perry.

Auburn turned to Danjel Purifoy who broke out of his scoreless streak with eight straight points. He drained a pair of three's and a layup over a 79-second span to put the Tigers back up 58-48 at the 7:15 mark.

Mississippi State pulled back to six points on two occasions, the latest at 61-55 with 5:22 on the clock, after a Woodard II triple. The Tigers delivered the closing blow as McCormick would score five points as part of a 12-4 spurt that placed Auburn ahead by 14 points inside the last two minutes.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State will play its next two on the road starting with a trip to Alabama on Wednesday. Tip time is slated for 6:00 p.m. CT from Coleman Coliseum. The game will be televised by SEC Network and available online through the WatchESPN app.

Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by searching 'HailStateMBK' on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.