National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Mississippi St. 82, Auburn 74
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Where: Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, Mississippi
Officials: # Doug Shows, # James Breeding, # Rick Hartzell
Attendance: 7754

Mississippi State 82, Auburn 74: Roquez Johnson came off the bench to score 18 points as the host Bulldogs tamed the Tigers in an SEC clash.

Colin Borchert added 17 points for Mississippi State (13-5, 3-2 SEC), which shot 50 percent from the field. Fred Thomas recorded 14 points and three blocks while Craig Sword was held to six points on 1-of-6 shooting, but dished out a game-high eight assists to go along with six rebounds.

KT Harrell scored 24 points and Tahj Shamsid-Deen netted 17 for Auburn (8-8, 0-5), which dropped its 15th consecutive conference game. Asauhn Dixon-Tatum chipped in with 12 points and 13 rebounds while Allen Payne contributed 12 points and 10 boards for the Tigers, who finished 12-of-13 from the free throw line.

Auburn made seven of its first nine shots to take a 15-6 lead before Thomas knocked down a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to four midway through the first half. Borchert nailed three straight triples as Mississippi State closed out the opening period on a 20-4 run to take a 34-25 advantage into the break.

Gavin Ware hit back-to-back jumpers to give the Bulldogs a 51-41 lead before Harrell sparked an 8-0 spurt as the Tigers pulled to within two with a little over eight minutes remaining. Tyson Cunningham keyed a 7-0 burst to stretch Mississippi State's advantage to 66-58 with just over three minutes left and they held on to beat Auburn for the fifth straight time at Humphrey Coliseum.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Mississippi State G Trivante Bloodman scored 13 points and dished out five assists. … The Bulldogs' bench outscored Auburn's reserves 28-0. … Harrell has finished in double figures in all 16 games this season.
Top Game Performances
 
Auburn   Mississippi St.
KT Harrell 24 Scoring Roquez Johnson 18
Chris Denson 2 Assists Craig Sword 8
Asauhn Dixon-Tatum 13 Rebounds Craig Sword 6
Tahj Shamsid-Deen 6 Free Throws Made Roquez Johnson 10
KT Harrell 3 Steals Trivante Bloodman 1
Asauhn Dixon-Tatum 2 Blocks Fred Thomas 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Auburn 74 48.3 6-21 12-13 11 30 3 6 13
Mississippi St. 82 50.0 7-18 31-43 16 21 6 3 9