No. 21 Auburn beats Mississippi State, home win streak at 28

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Jaylin Williams scored a season-high 21 points, Wendell Green Jr. added 17 and No. 21 Auburn defeated Mississippi State 69-63 on Saturday night.

Williams scored 11 of Auburn’s first 13 points, which included three 3-pointers in the opening six minutes of the game. The senior forward hit two more 3-pointers in the span of 1:27 early in the second half.

Auburn led by as many as 13 points in the second half, but Mississippi State cut the lead to four with 2:34 remaining. Green then hit a deep 3-pointer before coming away with a steal and a layup on the following possession.

Auburn (14-3, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) has won 28 straight games inside Neville Arena. The Tigers have the second-longest home winning streak in Division I men’s basketball, trailing Gonzaga.

Mississippi State (12-5, 1-4) was led by the inside presence of fifth-year senior Tolu Smith, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Senior forward D.J. Jeffries added 12 points and eight rebounds.

But the Bulldogs missed all 18 of their attempts from deep, while the host Tigers hit a season-high 11 3-pointers in the win. Allen Flanigan, who started in place of the injured Chris Moore, scored 10 points.

BIG PICTURE

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs boast one of the toughest defenses in the country, but offense has been a major problem recently. Mississippi State has not scored 70 or more points in a contest since Dec. 3, a streak that is nine games long.

Auburn: The Tigers have now won three straight SEC games, thanks in large part to the resurgent play of their veterans. Williams and Flanigan are in the midst of the best scoring stretches of their four-year careers at Auburn, while Green is averaging nearly 20 points per game during the winning streak.

UP NEXT

Mississippi State: Returns home to host Tennessee on Tuesday.

Auburn: Visits LSU on Wednesday.

___

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25