Postgame Notes: MSU at No. 21 Auburn

TEAM NOTES

Mississippi State fell 69-63 in a road matchup to Auburn. The Bulldogs drop to 12-5 overall and 1-4 in SEC play.
The Tigers won their fifth straight in the series and extended the nation's second-longest home winning streak to 28 consecutive games.
Mississippi State scored 20 of its 21 baskets inside the lane en route to a 40-24 advantage in paint points.
The Bulldogs grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and scored 17 of the game's 26 points on second-chance opportunities.
The Maroon and White won the battle of the boards for the 11th time in 17 games this season. The Bulldogs edged out Auburn by a 38-32 margin.
Mississippi State's defense collected 10 steals and forced Auburn into 20 turnovers. The Bulldogs have secured at least 10 steals in 10 of 17 games this season.
Down by as much as 13 points, 45-32 at the 13:12 mark of the second half, State trimmed the deficit down to four points at 57-53 with 2:34 remining.
Auburn used a Wendell Green Jr. three-pointer followed by a Green Jr. steal and layup to stretch its lead back to 9 points.
As a team, the Bulldogs connected on 21-of-56 from the floor (37.5 percent), 0-of-18 from three-point territory (0.0 percent) and 21-of-28 from the free throw line (75.0 percent).
All 28 of State's free throw attempts came during the second half.
Conversely, Auburn was 24-of-55 on its shot attempts (43.6 percent), made 11-of-25 of its triples (44.0 percent) and were 10-of-13 at the charity stripe (76.9 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Tolu Smith

Secured his first 20-10 game of the season with a team-leading 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Was 8-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-6 at the foul line.
Marked his third double-double of 2022-23 and 16th career double-double.
His fourth outing of 20-plus points this season.
Eight of his 13 career performances of 20+ points have come against SEC opponents.
Started 67 of 68 career outings for MSU
Moved to within 87 points of becoming the 6th MSU player since 2017-18 and 42nd player overall to reach 1,000 career points at State.

D.J. Jeffries

Tallied a solid all-around effort with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Reached double figures for the 11th time this season, second-most on the team.
Notched his 53rd career outing with 10+ points.
Recorded multiple steals for the sixth time this season and 22nd time over his career.
Added 2+ blocks for second straight game, third occasion in 2022-23 and 18th time during his career.
Started 48 of his 51 games at MSU.
Drew to within 57 points from reaching 1,000 for his career.

Cameron Matthews

Eric Reed Jr.

Dashawn Davis

Tallied a SEC season's best13 points to go along with 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.
Registered double figures for the 4th time this season and 19th time during his career.
Drained 11-of-13 at the foul line. The 11 free throws made were a career-high for Davis.
Dished out 4+ assists in three of his last five games.

Bench

Shakeel Moore was State's top performer off the bench with seven points, four rebounds and two steals.
Collected multiple steals in 10 of his 15 appearances this season and for the 39th time over 74 career games.
KeShawn Murphy and Will McNair Jr. chipped in two points apiece.
Shawn Jones Jr. has picked up a steal in seven of eight appearances.
His third outing with multiple steals this season.

Mississippi State University Athletics