STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI - Mississippi State needed a win and the Bulldogs got an easy one over Auburn on Saturday. <br>
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Mario Austin had 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds as MSU took control early with an opening-game 21-4 run to beat the Tigers 89-53. <br>
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Mississippi State (19-7, 6-6 Southeastern) made 10 3-pointers, shot 51.6 percent from the field, and led from start to finish. The Bulldogs opened the second-half with a 14-2 run to pull away. <br>
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``I said it the first time we played and I'll say it again...this is the best basketball team that I've seen in our conference,'' said Auburn coach Cliff Ellis. ``My hat is off to this Mississippi State team. They are as good of a team as I have seen since their 1996 season.'' <br>
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Mississippi State has won three straight over Auburn, including a 72-64 road victory over the Tigers on Jan. 30. <br>
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The win helps Mississippi State's chance to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since its Final Four appearance in 1996. <br>
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Auburn (11-12, 3-9) fell behind 21-4 with 12:34 left in the first half before Marquis Daniels made a jumper. The Tigers trailed 58-26 after Derrick Zimmerman hit a jumper with 15:35 remaining to end the second-half run. <br>
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Marckell Patterson, who scored all 12 of his points in the first half, made a 3-pointer and Ontario Harper hit two straight 3s to give Mississippi State a 32-7 lead with 7:56 remaining in the first half. <br>
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Mississippi State led 44-24 at the break. <br>
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``We defended and rebounded today,'' said Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury. ``That was the key and that really set the tempo for the game. We didn't give Auburn a lot of looks.'' <br>
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After the Bulldogs' second-half run, Adam Harrington hit a 3-pointer with 12:31 left to cut the lead to 26, 62-36. <br>
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A dunk by Michael Gholar about a minute later sparked the Bulldogs again and Mississippi State extended its lead to as much as 37. <br>
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Zimmerman finished with 11 points and nine assists. <br>
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Harrington led Auburn with 15 points. Lewis Monroe added 11. <br>
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Mississippi State outrebounded Auburn 48-25. The Tigers converted just nine free throws on 25 attempts and shot 38.8 percent from the field. <br>
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Mississippi State bounced back from a 68-65 loss at LSU. <br>
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``I'm happy with the fact that we were able to bounce back from that difficult situation,'' Stansbury said. ``To respond like we responded today really says a lot about the character of out team."
