SEC Basketball Preview/Prediction: Auburn at Mississippi State

Mississippi State-Auburn basketball game preview

The Auburn Tigers visit the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Wednesday in Starkville in a key SEC basketball matchup. Look inside for a preview of the game including key players, a statistical comparison, team schedules, injury reports, game TV information and a final score prediction.

By 14Powers Hoops

Team Statistical Comparison

Auburn scores an average of 79.7 points per game while allowing opposing teams to score an average of 66.9 points per contest. Mississippi State scores an average of 71.5 points per game while allowing opposing teams to score an average of 66.1 points per contest.

This will be a battle between two of the top head coaches in the SEC, Ben Howland of Mississippi State and Bruce Pearl of Auburn. Auburn badly needs to win this one to gain a regular season SEC title. If the Tigers can pull off a victory over Mississippi State then they’ll only need to defeat a scrappy South Carolina squad in Auburn Arena to earn a regular season SEC championship. Auburn also needs a win over State to help solidify and No. 1 NCAA tournament seeding. The Bulldogs have an outside chance of slipping into the NCAA field but need to win out the regular season and then earn two or three wins in the SEC tournament. Sports betting junkies should make their gaming choices wisely.

	FG%	3PT%	FT%	ORB	RBM	SPG	BPG	APG	TOPG
Auburn	0.448	0.321	0.735	12.61	+5.25	8.57	8.25	14.57	12.07
Mississippi State	0.458	0.303	0.724	11.25	+5.89	8.00	3.46	13.32	12.86
	Opp FG%	Opp 3PT%	RB Off	RB Def	OFRB%	Scor. M	3ptMPG	TM PPG	Opp PPG
Auburn	0.384	0.312	40.43	35.18	0.34	+12.86	8.07	79.7	66.9
Mississippi State	0.428	0.319	36.29	30.39	0.34	+5.32	5.07	71.5	66.1

Key

FG%– Field goal shootage percentage.
3PT%– Three point field goal shootage percentage.
FT%– Free throw shooting percentage.
OREB– Offensive rebounds per game.
RBM– Average rebounding margin per game.
SPG– Steals per game.
BPG– Blocks per game.
APG– Assists per game.
TOPG– Turnovers per game.

Opp FG%– Opponent field goal percentage made.
Opp 3PT%– Opponent 3-point field goal percentage made.
RB Off– Rebounding Offense.
RB Def– Rebounding defense.
OFRB%– Offensive rebounding percentage.
Scor. M– Average game scoring margin.
3ptMPG– Three point shots made per game.
TM PPG– Team’s average points scored per game.
Opp PPG– Average points scored by opponents per game.

Statistical Leaders

Scoring

SEC Rnk/Player	Team	Games	FG	3PTFG	FTs	Points	Avg.
3. Molinar, Iverson	MSU	28	172	26	134	504	18.0
8. Smith, Jabari	AUB	28	146	62	100	454	16.2
16. Green Jr., Wendell	AUB	28	116	49	68	349	12.5
20. Johnson, K.D.	AUB	28	109	38	89	345	12.3

Field Goal %
SEC Rnk/Player	Team	Games	FGM	FGA	FG%
1. Kessler, Walker	AUB	28	141	219	0.644
6. Molinar, Iverson	MSU	28	172	362	0.475
9. Smith, Jabari	AUB	28	146	336	0.435

3-point made per game
SEC Rnk/Player	Team	Games	3PT Made	Avg. Per Game
5. Smith, Jabari	AUB	28	62	2.21
14. Green Jr., Wendell	AUB	28	49	1.75

Free Throw %
SEC Rnk/Player	Team	Games	FT Att.	FT Made	FT%
2. Molinar, Iverson	MSU	28	134	153	0.876
6. Smith, Jabari	AUB	28	100	124	0.806

Rebounding
SEC Rnk/Player	Team	Games	Off	Def	Total	Avg. Per Game
4. Kessler, Walker	AUB	28	73	159	232	8.29
8. Brooks, Garrison	MSU	28	75	118	193	6.89
10. Smith, Jabari	AUB	28	20	170	190	6.79

Auburn vs. Mississippi State Basketball Series History

Auburn leads 79-70

Auburn Roster

NO	NAME	POS	HT	WT	CLASS
0	K.D. Johnson	G	6′-0″	204	SO
1	Wendell Green Jr.	G	5′-11″	175	SO
2	Jaylin Williams	F	6′-8″	230	JR
5	Chris Moore	F	6′-6″	240	SO
10	Jabari Smith	F	6′-10″	220	FR
12	Zep Jasper	G	6′-1″	185	SR
13	Walker Kessler	F	7′-1″	245	SO
14	Preston Cook	G	6′-4″	205	SR
20	Carter Sobera	G	6′-5″	187	SO
21	Ty Cressman	F	6′-7″	244	JR
22	Allen Flanigan	G	6′-6″	215	JR
23	Babatunde Akingbola	C	6′-10″	245	JR
24	Lior Berman	G	6′-4″	215	JR
25	Chandler Leopard	G	6′-3″	195	JR
31	Michael Whitmore	G	5′-10″	160	SO
33	Chase Maasdorp	G	6′-0″	175	JR
35	Devan Cambridge	G	6′-6″	215	JR
44	Dylan Cardwell	C	6′-11″	250	SO

Mississippi State Roster

NO	NAME	POS	HT	WT	CLASS
0	Rocket Watts	G	6′-2″	185	JR
1	Iverson Molinar	G	6′-3″	190	JR
2	Javian Davis	F	6′-9″	240	JR
3	Shakeel Moore	G	6′-1″	185	SO
4	Cameron Matthews	G	6′-7″	225	SO
5	Cam Carter	G	6′-3″	185	FR
10	Garrison Brooks	F	6′-9″	230	SR
11	Andersson Garcia	G	6′-7″	210	SO
12	Keshawn Murphy	F	6′-10″	245	FR
13	D.J. Jeffries	F	6′-7″	225	JR
20	Derek Fountain	F	6′-9″	225	SO
21	Justin Rumph	G	6′-5″	215	SR
24	Tyler Brumfield	G	6′-1″	180	FR
25	Isaac Stansbury	G	6′-1″	160	JR
35	Tolu Smith	F	6′-11″	245	JR
44	Alden Applewhite	F	6′-7″	200	FR

Auburn Schedule/Results

Date	Visitor	Points	Home	Points
11/9/2021	Morehead State	54	Auburn	77
11/12/2021	UL Monroe	65	Auburn	93
11/19/2021	Auburn	58	South Florida	52
11/24/2021	UConn	115	Auburn	109
11/25/2021	Auburn	62	Loyola Chicago	53
11/26/2021	Syracuse	68	Auburn	89
12/1/2021	UCF	68	Auburn	85
12/4/2021	Yale	64	Auburn	86
12/11/2021	Nebraska	68	Auburn	99
12/14/2021	North Alabama	44	Auburn	70
12/18/2021	Auburn	74	Saint Louis	70
12/22/2021	Murray State	58	Auburn	71
12/29/2021	LSU	55	Auburn	70
1/4/2022	Auburn	81	South Carolina	66
1/8/2022	Florida	73	Auburn	85
1/11/2022	Auburn	81	Alabama	77
1/15/2022	Auburn	80	Ole Miss	71
1/19/2022	Georgia	60	Auburn	83
1/22/2022	Kentucky	71	Auburn	80
1/25/2022	Auburn	55	Missouri	54
1/29/2022	Oklahoma	68	Auburn	86
2/1/2022	Alabama	81	Auburn	100
2/5/2022	Auburn	74	Georgia	72
2/8/2022	Auburn	80	Arkansas	76
2/12/2022	Texas A&M	58	Auburn	75
2/16/2022	Vanderbilt	80	Auburn	94
2/19/2022	Auburn	62	Florida	63
2/23/2022	Ole Miss	64	Auburn	77
2/26/2022	Auburn	62	Tennessee	67
3/2/2022	Auburn		Mississippi State
3/5/2022	South Carolina		Auburn

Mississippi State Schedule/Results

Date	Visitor	Points	Home	Points
11/10/2021	North Alabama	49	Mississippi State	75
11/13/2021	Montana	49	Mississippi State	86
11/17/2021	Detroit Mercy	64	Mississippi State	77
11/21/2021	Morehead State	46	Mississippi State	66
11/25/2021	Mississippi State	58	Louisville	72
11/27/2021	Mississippi State	82	Richmond	71
12/2/2021	Lamar	60	Mississippi State	75
12/5/2021	Minnesota	81	Mississippi State	76
12/11/2021	Mississippi State	63	Colorado State	66
12/14/2021	Georgia State	50	Mississippi State	79
12/17/2021	Furman	66	Mississippi State	69
12/21/2021	Winthrop	63	Mississippi State	84
12/29/2021	Arkansas	68	Mississippi State	81
1/5/2022	Mississippi State	PPD	Missouri	PPD
1/8/2022	Mississippi State	72	Ole Miss	82
1/12/2022	Georgia	72	Mississippi State	88
1/15/2022	Alabama	76	Mississippi State	78
1/19/2022	Mississippi State	72	Florida	80
1/22/2022	Ole Miss	60	Mississippi State	78
1/25/2022	Mississippi State	74	Kentucky	82
1/29/2022	Mississippi State	50	Texas Tech	76
2/1/2022	South Carolina	64	Mississippi State	78
2/5/2022	Mississippi State	55	Arkansas	63
2/9/2022	Tennessee	72	Mississippi State	63
2/12/2022	Mississippi State	65	LSU	69
2/16/2022	Mississippi State	75	Alabama	80
2/19/2022	Missouri	49	Mississippi State	68
2/23/2022	Mississippi State	56	South Carolina	66
2/26/2022	Vanderbilt	69	Mississippi State	74
3/2/2022	Auburn		Mississippi State
3/5/2022	Mississippi State		Texas A&M

Injuries and Suspensions

Auburn

None reported.

Mississippi State

[F] 12/01/2021 – Keshawn Murphy is out for season (Redshirt)
[G] 02/26/2022 – Rocket Watts is “?” (Arm)

Source: statfox.com

Auburn-Mississippi State Prediction

Auburn 75, Mississippi State 72

Score prediction for entertainment purposes only.

Wednesday‘s game tips off at 9:00 PM ET. TV: SEC Network.