Moultrie lifts No. 22 Mississippi State over Auburn

Starkville, MS – Arnett Moultrie scored 21 points and pulled 88 win over Auburn.

Renardo Sidney had 17 points, Dee Bost added 15 points with seven assists and Jalen Steele had 13 points off the bench for the Bulldogs (18-5, 5-3 SEC), who bounced back from a loss to Florida last Saturday.

"We had things going a lot of different ways tonight," said Mississippi State head coach Rick Stansbury. "We had five guys in double figures and you'll win a bunch of games if you get scoring from that many people."

Kenny Gabriel had 22 points and 11 rebounds while Frankie Sullivan added 16 points for the Tigers (13-10, 3-6), who have dropped three of four. Varez Ward had 24 points and five assists in the loss.

Near the midway point of the second half, the Bulldogs held a 13-point lead on a Moultrie dunk, but the Tigers got a layup and three-pointer from Sullivan and Allen Payne followed with a dunk to make it a 68-62 game.

Two free throws from Gabriel with nine minutes to play made it a 69-64 game, but Moultrie and Sidney followed with a pair of free throws each.

It stayed close the rest of the way and Payne made it a four-point game on a jumper late in the contest as the score was 88-84, but Shaun Smith made his two from the line.

A quick layup from Sullivan was followed by a Moultrie free throw and Sullivan was then fouled on a three-pointer, but he made just two of his three shots and it was 91-88 with 0.2 seconds to play.

The Tigers led early, but Rodney Hood hit a three-pointer and Moultrie followed with a pair of baskets for a 16-12 lead seven minutes in.

The game stayed close for the rest of the half, but Payne hit a pair of free throws and Gabriel made a three-pointer late in the half to give Auburn a 44-43 lead at the break.

Bost opened the second half with three straight three-pointers to give Mississippi State a lead it didn't relinquish the rest of the game.

Game Notes

Mississippi State hosts Ole Miss on Thursday...Auburn welcomes Alabama on Tuesday...Auburn still leads the series, 71-65, but the Bulldogs have taken 11 of the last 12 home encounters against the Tigers.