Mississippi State
17-13,8-9SEC
#5 Auburn
26-4,14-3SEC
Bulldogs Drop OT Decision To No. 5 Auburn
March 02, 2022 | Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State erased a 19-point deficit and led for a large stretch of the second half, but ultimately fell 81-68 in overtime to No. 5 Auburn on Wednesday night at the Humphrey Coliseum.
MSU's Tolu Smith scored 20-plus points for the third-straight game and notched a double-double with his 22 points and 12 rebounds, and several others in Maroon and White had strong showings as well in defeat.
Honored prior to what was his final home game, Garrison Brooks scored 10 points and brought down eight boards. Iverson Molinar tallied 14 points, keeping up his streak of scoring in double figures in every game this season. Off the bench, Andersson Garcia totaled eight points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
State outrebounded Auburn 50-32 and found offensive success in the paint, where the team scored 50 of its points. However, none of it was quite enough for MSU.
The Bulldogs trailed 39-20 late in the first half before staging a furious rally. MSU closed out the first 20 minutes on a 6-0 run, then kept that momentum rolling after the intermission.
State surged ahead on a Brooks jumper with 8:46 left in regulation. The basket was part of a 13-0 Bulldog run that turned the game completely around.
The MSU lead grew to as many as five before Auburn staged a comeback of its own down the stretch. The Tigers hit a game-tying basket with 51 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime.
The Bulldogs couldn't get much going offensively in the extra frame. State shot just 1-for-6 as a team in the overtime period. Meanwhile Auburn shot 5-for-6 from the field and 9-for-10 from the free-throw line in the additional five minutes to lock down the win.
FROM THE BENCH - COACH HOWLAND
"Well that was an excruciating, tough loss on our behalf. We've said that too many times this year. We had five-point lead in the second half. We started out so boring, and they started out great. They had six three's early in the game against us. They ended up making four the rest of the game. I think they had six in the first 10 minutes. I thought we did a good job in the last four minutes of the first half to cut it from 19 [points] to 12 [points]."
"Then, we came out and really played good defense to start the second half. Our offensive rebounding, and our defense were really good today. We out boarded them by 18 today. We had too many turnovers. I thought that Tolu [Smith] and Andy [Andersson Garcia] were both terrific tonight and gave us a fighting chance. I blame myself for the calls down the stretch because we didn't get the kind of looks we needed to get. Actually, we did with the wide-open three. But the play before that Iverson [Molinar] pulled up for a jumper against [Walker] Kessler. The play was designed to get to the rim or kick it out, and he kicked it out. The second time, we had an open three and just air-balled it."
"We're going to play a really good team [Texas A&M] that just won at Alabama by 16 tonight. They're really an unorthodox team that presses. They play four guards and one big. They're trapping all the time. They're all over the help side. The whole team is on one side of the floor whenever the ball is on a wing. It's going to be a very tough game, but we've got to bounce back and play our best against Texas A&M to have a chance to win on the road there."
FROM THE LOCKER ROOM - TOLU SMITH
"I'm just trying to give it all I've got. God knows my boys are trying to give it everything they've got. It's just how the cards fall sometimes. You've just got to keep your head high, keep playing and never quit. Coach [Howland] tells us to never give up. So, that's what we're going to keep doing. We're not going to quit."
- Mississippi State wiped away a 19-point first half deficit and a 12-point halftime hole before taking a 5-point advantage with six minutes left in regulation. Ultimately, No. 5 Auburn came back to claim an 81-68 decision in overtime.
- The Bulldogs sit at 17-13 overall and 8-9 in SEC action. With one game left in the regular season, State is in a three-way tie for eighth place with LSU and Texas A&M in the SEC standings.
- Nine of team's 13 losses have come against NCAA NET Quad 1 opponents.
- State connected for 25 of its 27 field goals on the interior and outscored Auburn by a 50-24 margin in paint points. The 50 paint points are the team's second-highest output on the season.
- The Bulldogs controlled the glass courtesy of 21 offensive rebounds for a 50-32 advantage.
- As a unit, State shot 27-of-67 from the floor (40.3 percent), 0-of-13 from three-point range (0.0 percent) and 14-of-22 from the free throw line (63.6 percent).
Tolu Smith
- Poured in season-high tying 22 points and a season's best 12 rebounds.
- Marked his third consecutive game and eight career outing with 20-plus points.
- Six of his eight career games of 20-plus points have come against SEC opponents.
- Collected his fourth career game of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.
- Notched his 11th career double-double, third of the 2021-22 season.
- 10-plus points in 12 of 17 games this season and 32 of his 47 career games.
- Provided 14 points, five rebounds and three assists.
- Extended his streak to 30 consecutive games in double figures.
- The 30-game streak is the longest by a Mississippi State player to start a season. Jeff Malone held the previous mark with 29 consecutive games in 1982-83.
- The 14 points enabled Molinar to surpass Leland Mitchell (1961-62-63) and Dave Williams (1966-67-68) to move into 26th place on the program's all-time list.
- Came away with 10 point and eight rebounds on Senior Night.
- Reached double figures in 7 of his last 10 outings.
- The eight rebounds allowed him to eclipse 1,000 for his career.
- The only active NCAA Power 5 player with over 1,500 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
- Pitched I six points, four assists and two steals.
- His fifth consecutive game and 18th game with multiple steals this season.
- Two or more steals in 29 of 55 career games.
- Andersson Garcia rattled off a career-high 13 rebounds to go along with eight points, three assists and two steals.
- Garcia started the second half for State and logged a career-best 28 minutes.
- Cameron Matthews and Javian Davis each collected three boards.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will travel to Texas A&M for the last game of the 2021-22 SEC regular season on Saturday evening. Tip time is set for 7:30 p.m. CT from Reed Arena televised by SEC Network and available online courtesy of the ESPN app and www.ESPN.com/watch.
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.
