02/13 at 12:34 AM

Mississippi State’s Kodi Augustus slammed home a pass from Brian Bryant, giving the Bulldogs a 19-point lead over Auburn with 11:24 to play Saturday.

He made a shot near the rim with 4:21 left, shouting after the ball went through the cylinder to put the Bulldogs up 13 and rubbing salt in the wound as the Tigers appeared headed toward their ninth loss in 10 SEC games.

Or, as it turned out, keying one of the biggest comebacks in Auburn program history.

Auburn ripped off a 17-0 run over the next 3:53, turning a near-certain blowout into an improbable 65-62 win that rocked the sellout crowd of 9,121 assembled at Auburn Arena, its first home SEC win of the season.

“The thing I liked, down whatever it was in the second half, the guys didn’t pack it in,” Tigers coach Tony Barbee said. “We haven’t all year long, but all I talked about was being mean and nasty and tough. And then come winning time, let’s not break down defensively. Let’s not break down offensively.”

The beleaguered Tigers (9-15, 2-8 SEC), who trailed 51-32 with 11:24 to go, pulled off a comeback that ranks with a 19-point comeback against LSU in 1999 and a 22-point deficit overcome against Louisville in 1995 for the biggest in program history.

Two Ross free throws – coming after Augustus was whistled for a technical foul after his post-basket outburst – started the Tigers’ run at the 4:19 mark, cutting the Bulldogs’ lead to 58-47.

Rob Chubb – coming back from a two-game suspension stemming from a Jan. 30 arrest – made a hook shot, Kenny Gabriel converted a 3-point play, then coaxed a steal and dunk on the Bulldogs’ next possession to bring the sellout crowd to its feet and bring Auburn within 58-54 with 3:35 to go.

Chris Denson forced a steal and finished it up with a layup, Gabriel drained a 3-pointer to give the home team its first lead since the 12:44 mark of the first half, and Josh Wallace stormed through the lane, drew contact, hit a layup and finished up a 3-point play to finish off the Tigers’ furious run and put them up 62-58 with 26.0 seconds left.

“Coach told us to keep believing in our game and fighting back,” Ross said. “We kept on, and I’m glad we came out with the win tonight.

“Coach told us that as long as we believe, we have a chance to win and at least compete in every game.”

Mississippi State (13-11, 5-5) turned the ball over five times and didn’t get a shot up during Auburn’s run, with its only scoring opportunity coming when Bost missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Auburn traded free throws with Bost layups over the final 26 seconds, with two Ross free throws with 3.5 seconds to go providing the final margin, as Bost’s desperation halfcourt heave at the buzzer missed.

“We were just trying to put a lot of pressure on them so they could not set their offense or run plays,” Gabriel said. “We had an advantage by running people at the ball and getting in passing lanes to get fast-break layups.”

Ross finished with 21 points and seven rebounds, and Gabriel scored 18 on 7-of-12 shooting.

After scoring 7 points in the first 5 minutes, Gabriel largely disappeared from the action before coming back to score 9 in the final 4.

“I was on him bad,” Barbee said. “I was taking him out of the game because he wasn’t giving us much, but that is the response I want. When I get on you, when I’m down your throat, I don’t want you to go dig a little hole and disappear. I want you to respond.”

Auburn also got a lift off the bench from Chubb, who scored 6 points in 16 minutes.

The sophomore forward had been suspended for almost two weeks after being arrested and charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct, attempting to elude a police officer and resisting arrest stemming from an incident in the early morning hours of Jan. 30.

“Disappointed in the decision he made, but at the same time, he is a college kid,” Barbee said. “What college kids do, like most of us did when we were in college, we made dumb decisions. It doesn’t mean you throw him under the bus and forget about him.

“He served his punishment. I thought he did the right things. He apologized sincerely to everybody. As much as he embarrassed this program and me and his family, more importantly he embarrassed himself, and he truly understands that.”

Bost scored a game-high 22 points for the Bulldogs, with his 4-of-8 performance from beyond the arc leading a 9-of-24 day from 3-point land for Mississippi State.

But eight of those baskets came in the first half, as the Bulldogs shot only 1-of-9 after the break.

Sidney added 9 points and 13 rebounds, but he and Augustus – who also finished with 9 points – both watched the end of the game from the bench after fouling out down the stretch.

“It shows that if you keep believing, keep executing and keep believing in each other,” Barbee said, “good things can happen.”

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