The No. 7 Mississippi State basketball team had a pretty nice trip over to Auburn as the Bulldogs crushed the Tigers with ease to get yet another SEC win.
Another SEC game, another dominant victory for Vic Schaefer’s Mississippi State basketball team. The Mississippi State Bulldogs’ (16-1 overall, 4-0 SEC) trip to Auburn, Alabama went perfectly as Schaefer and his team are leaving triumphant thanks to an 85-59 victory over the Auburn Tigers (14-3 overall, 2-2 SEC).
And really, it’s not a stretch to say that this game could have ended with a much larger point differential than what it actually did.
Mississippi State, at halftime, held a 38-28 lead. By the time the third quarter concluded, MSU’s advantage swelled to be a 19-point advantage as the score sat at 64-45. And then of course, the game wrapped up with the Bulldogs on top 85-59.
MSU in this game, just as throughout most of the season so far, completely owned the first and third quarters. In those two frames combined, the Bulldogs held a 41-29 point advantage over the Tigers.
Of course, MSU did notably better than Auburn in the other quarters of the game as well. But that’s besides the point. Schaefer’s teams have been able to get out in front of opponents with ease all year and that was certainly seen this evening.
Teaira McCowan’s efficient and dominant play enabled her to play just 23 minutes. However, in those 23 minutes, the Bulldogs’ star center scored 22 points, pulled down 10 rebounds, and blocked 3 shots. McCowan was a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line and went 9-10 from the field.
The second leading scorer for Mississippi State was freshman forward/center Jessika Carter. The 6-5 youngster thrived against the Auburn Tigers just as McCowan did, scoring 14 points while getting 6 rebounds. She was 4-4 from the field and made all 6 of her free throw attempts.
By the time the game was wrapped up, the Bulldogs out-rebounded Auburn 43-24.
All stats via hailstate.com
The Bulldogs will return to action soon. Vic Schaefer’s Mississippi State basketball team will take on the No. 15 South Carolina Gamecocks Thursday evening at 6:00. Thankfully, Mississippi State will meet Dawn Staley’s team in Starkville for this match up. The game will be on ESPN.