Mississippi State
12-5,1-4SEC
#21 Auburn
14-3,4-1SEC
Smith Notches Double-Double But Dawgs Fall At No. 21 Auburn
January 14, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
AUBURN, Ala. – Mississippi State senior center Tolu Smith recorded his 16th career double-double, but it wasn't enough as the Bulldogs fell 69-63 to No. 21 Auburn at Neville Arena on Saturday night.
Smith scored 20 points and brought down 10 rebounds, pacing MSU in both categories. It's the sixth time in his career that the State big man has scored 20 or more with 10 or more boards.
Along with Smith, two other Bulldogs reached double figures in scoring. Dashawn Davis totaled 13 points, while D.J. Jeffries added 12 and just missed out on a double-double himself as he tallied eight rebounds.
However, Auburn ultimately came away with the win, powered by a first half that saw the Tigers go into the locker room at the break with a 30-22 advantage. The Bulldogs trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half, then got to within four points with 2:34 to play but couldn't complete the comeback.
"I told [the team after the game], 'We lost that game in the first half,'" State head coach Chris Jans said. "[We had] 13 turnovers in the first half. The game got away from us. It should have been a one or two-point game in the 20s, and we just turned the ball over too much. It's really hard to guard [Auburn] in transition. It's hard to guard any team in this league in transition, especially when they're as fast as Auburn is. We put a lot of pressure on our defense and really felt like we had enough fight in us to win this game, but we just dug ourselves a hole."
MSU benefitted down the stretch from much-improved free-throw shooting, connecting on 21 of 28 attempts from the charity stripe with all 28 free-throw tries coming over the contest's final 20 minutes. The Bulldogs weren't as successful from long distance though. State went 0-for-18 from three-point range over the course of the evening.
"Obviously, our free-throw shooting has been a hot topic in our program and rightfully so and it was nice for [us] to respond and make some of those in charity stripe situations," Jans said. "The elephant in the room is we were 0-for-18 from the three-point line…It's frustrating. I thought we took really good shots.
"This coaching game is a game of Whac-A-Mole. There's always something that rears its ugly head. Your job as a coach is to keep whacking them as best you can and keep your warts down and your weaknesses out of the game. Unfortunately, our three-point shooting [Saturday] was one of our Achilles heels."
Meanwhile Auburn made 11 of its 25 3-pointers. Jaylin Williams went 5-for-7 from deep for the Tigers and led his team with 21 points.
Mississippi State looks to answer Saturday's loss when the Bulldogs return home on Tuesday. The Bulldogs will host Tennessee at Humphrey Coliseum. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. and the game is scheduled to be televised by ESPN2.
"We're very motivated," Smith said. "I know it's just another game, but [the first time we played Tennessee earlier this season] left a sour taste in our mouths. So, we've got to protect The Hump."
