No. 8 Auburn (16-3, 5-1) will face Mississippi State (13-6, 2-4) in Starkville on Saturday afternoon. Both teams are coming off a road loss, Mississippi State to Florida and Auburn to Alabama. They will both look to get back in the win column on Saturday.
Auburn leads the all-time series between the two schools, 77-69, and has won the last five meetings. The last win for the Bulldogs against the Tigers, however, came in Starkville back in January of 2019. That was the same Auburn team that went on to the Final Four.
If this year’s Auburn team hopes for a similar destiny to the 2019 team, how they respond when facing a physical team like the Bulldogs will be important. Mississippi State’s defense is one of the best in the country. They only allow 66.4 points per game to their opponents. Even more impressive, they are holding their opponents to 27.7% shooting from three, which ranks fourth best in college basketball.
“Mississippi State is one of the best defensive teams in our league, therefore one of the best defensive teams in the country,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. “They play with great pressure on the ball.”
The Bulldogs defense starts with their front-court, led by Tolu Smith and Cameron Matthews. Smith is a household name in the SEC. The senior has been a star for the Bulldogs for multiple years now, and he brings a physicality in the paint that is second to none.
“Tolu Smith is a dominating inside player,” Pearl said. “He and Johni Broome are two of the best bigs in the SEC. It’s not Tolu versus Johni (Broome); it’s Auburn versus Mississippi State.”
Cameron Matthews is having his best season yet in Starkville. He leads the team with over two steals per game, and he is also a physical player.
Auburn’s front-court will face its biggest challenge of the season so far against this group, the Bulldogs. Johni Broome is coming off a career game against Alabama, where he had 25 points. That kind of production is unlikely against Mississippi State’s defense. Auburn will have to look elsewhere, more than likely, for offensive production.
Who will the Tigers go to for scoring if Johni Broome is taken away? They will have to depend on their guards to knock down shots. Auburn’s guards shot extremely poorly against Alabama, but Broome’s dominance allowed them to compete. That will not be the case on Saturday.
Aden Holloway could be a difference-maker for the Tigers in this game. Holloway is shooting just 24% from three so far in SEC play. Holloway will have a favorable matchup offensively on Saturday against freshman standout Josh Hubbard. Will that allow him to find his stroke again? If so, it would be a welcomed sight for the Tigers.
While Hubbard may not be the best defender on Mississippi State, he is a good scorer. He is averaging nearly 15 points per game while shooting over 36% from 3 this season. He shot 17 threes in their loss to Florida. He will certainly have Auburn’s attention.
“(Josh) Hubbard is one of the best-scoring freshmen in the country,” Pearl said.
Auburn’s defense will also be challenged in the front-court. Mississippi State is shooting nearly 54% from two-point range this season, in large part due to their forwards. Tolu Smith averages 18.3 points per game. Cameron Matthew averages 9.1 points per game as well. Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell, Jaylin Williams, and Chaney Johnson will need to be at the top of their game to defend the Bulldogs.
Despite the loss to Alabama on Wednesday night, Auburn is still in a tie for first place in the SEC. However, a loss to Mississippi State on Saturday would knock them off the pedestal. As well as Auburn has played this season, all three of their losses have come to Quad I opponents. They have yet to win a game against a Quad I team, but they will have the chance to change that Saturday. A win would be a big boost to their already strong resume.
For the first time since December 9th, Auburn will play a game coming off of a loss. After the loss against App. State, they defeated Indiana 104-76 and went on an eleven-game winning streak. They will look to do something similar again starting Saturday afternoon.
The game will tip off at 2:30 on the SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network.
