Observations: Mississippi State 91, Auburn 85
Nothing about this fifth straight loss came out of nowhere for the Tigers. It was just filled with extreme examples of their major issues.
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Steven Pearl is in his first season as a head coach, but he’s spent more than a decade at Auburn.
Yet he called Auburn losing 91-85 at Mississippi State on Wednesday night “the worst loss I’ve probably been a part of at Auburn.”
The Tigers have definitely lost by more points and blown bigger leads than what they experienced at the hands of the Bulldogs — even if you look at just this season alone.
In a vacuum, a 6-point SEC road loss being called “the worst” might sound extreme.
But it’s fitting, because this was a game of extremes.
You have already seen a lot of what happened with Auburn on Wednesday night. It just felt like the Tigers’ problems were all magnified to massive proportions.
Struggling against a lead scoring guard? Mississippi State star and SEC leading scorer Josh Hubbard dropped a jaw-dropping 46 points, including a ridiculous 35 in the first half. He also hit the game-winning shot in the final minute.
Defending the 3-point line? Auburn allowed 16 triples, the most this season for what was already one of the worst high-major 3-point defenses in the country. Mississippi State entered the game with the worst 3-point percentage in SEC play.
Getting off to a slow start? Auburn was down by 15 before the under-12 timeout in the first half, going only 2-10 from the field to start the game. Mississippi State had already hit five 3-pointers by then, with three of them coming from Hubbard.
Rallying from a large hole they dug from themselves? The Tigers were down 18 early in the second half before fighting back to take the lead in less than 10 minutes of game time. It was a super-concentrated version of their usual comeback this season.
Failing to execute down the stretch? Auburn was up by seven with 3:56 left to play, yet it was outscored 18-5 the rest of the way. The Tigers struggled on both ends, not having any answers on offense or defense when they needed them the most.
Having to deal with a discipline-related playing time issue of some kind?
…well, actually, Auburn didn’t have that this time.
Keyshawn Hall was back after his absence of one game and some change, and he scored 29 while playing the entire game.
That’s part of what makes this loss more “devastating,” as Pearl called it, than others. Auburn isn’t a deep team at all, but it had all of its usual rotation available this time.
The other part is that this wasn’t another Quad 1 loss to a high-quality opponent. No, Auburn’s 12th loss was its first to a team that currently isn’t projected to make the NCAA Tournament.
And now Auburn finds itself perilously close to that position, too, for the first time all season. A visit from Kentucky on Saturday looks like it could be make or break for a team that has now lost five straight for the first time in a full decade.
“Your season is on the line Saturday,” Pearl said. “If you don't win on Saturday, you're probably firmly on the bubble and out of the tournament.”
Here are three big Observations from Auburn’s 91-85 loss to Mississippi State, plus the Rotation Charts, Nerd Stats and Quote of the Night.
New lows in defending a scoring guard and the 3-point line
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