No. 12 Auburn holds off Mississippi State 73-66 to reach SEC Tournament title game

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Dylan Cardwell scored his only points on consecutive dunks in the final minutes as No. 12 Auburn held off ninth-seeded Mississippi State 73-66 on Saturday to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game.

With the SEC’s top three seeds losing their openers Friday for the first time in this tournament since 1983, that left a wide-open path for Auburn (26-7) to win the event for the first time since 2019. The Tigers are in the title game for the fifth time in program history.

They will play either Texas A&M or Florida as they try to win Auburn’s third title.

Chad Baker-Mazara led five Tigers in double figures with 14 points. Denver Jones and Jaylin Williams each added 13. Johni Broome and Tre Donaldson had 10 apiece.

Josh Hubbard scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half, trying to rally Mississippi State (21-13). The Bulldogs go home shy of the championship game continuing a drought that started after their last berth in 2010.

D.J. Jeffries had 12 points for Mississippi State, and Tolu Smith II had 10.

Mississippi State had pulled to within 57-56 on seven straight points when Cardwell got his only buckets of the game. His first dunk came with 4:40 left, then he dunked again with 4:08 remaining before running over in front of some Auburn fans to celebrate with a scream.

This was a chippy game, with double technicals handed out not once but twice. Auburn junior Johni Broome needed a trainer to treat his nose at one point early in the second half with the Tigers up 39-35.

Mississippi State led 31-29 before Williams beat the buzzer driving to the basket for a layup, tying it up at 31 going into halftime after Auburn trailed 12-4 early. Broome’s 3 in the opening minute of the second half put the Tigers ahead to stay.

BIG PICTURE

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs dominated the boards with a 37-29 edge. But after a 10-1 scoring edge off second-chance points by halftime, they didn’t convert those rebounds in the second half. Auburn outscored them 4-2 after halftime. … The Bulldogs also hurt themselves at the free-throw line, going 17 of 27 (63%).

Auburn: Bruce Pearl joined Sonny Smith as the only coaches in program history to reach the title game multiple times. Smith went 1-1 in his trips in 1984 and ’85. The Tigers also went in 2000, and Pearl led them to the title in 2019.

UP NEXT

Auburn beat Texas A&M 66-55 on Jan. 9 but lost on the road at Florida 81-65 on Feb. 10.

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