AuburnFamilyNews.com: Top 5 Plays: Mississippi State

Monday, January 6, 2020

Top 5 Plays: Mississippi State

NCAA Basketball: Auburn at Mississippi State Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

A look back at 5 of the biggest plays in Auburn’s win in Starkville on Saturday.

It’s time to take one final look at the Mississippi State game as I share 5 of the games biggest and best plays from an 80-68 Auburn on Saturday afternoon in the Hump. These 5 plays are in chronological order of how the game played out.

Play #1 - Isaac Okoro Fastbreak Dunk

This first play is an Isaac Okoro fastbreak dunk to give Auburn it’s first lead since it was 2-0 late in the 1st half. It’s crazy thinking back on this game that Auburn had 9 points 12 minutes into this game and finished with 80 on the afternoon. The Tigers closed the 1st half strong and this play was part of it.

Play #2 - J’Von’s Teardrop Floater

When J’Von is hitting this shot, you know it’s going to be a good night for him. McCormick has worked on this and he’s starting to get these shots to fall for him. This was simply a thing of beauty.

Play #3 - Never Give Up on the Play

Auburn, on multiple occasions in the 2nd half, stole inbounds passes after made baskets to put even more points on the scoreboard. Here we see a missed shot and it appeared Miss State would get the ball, but Isaac Okoro would have none of it as he dove for the loose ball and gets the ball to Austin Wiley. From there, Austin is able to knock down a hook shot over an excellent shot blocker Abdul Ado.

Play #4 - Danjel gets into Rhythm!

To me, this is the biggest play in the game. The Bulldogs had fought back from a double digit deficit, courtesy of the free throw line to cut the Auburn lead down to 2 with 9:20 to go. Purifoy, who was scoreless, got a wide open look from 3 in the corner and drilled it.

This would be the start of an 8-0 Danjel run, as he would hit another 3 and then a put-back shot on the next 2 possessions as Auburn regained a 10-point lead. Mississippi State would get no closer than 6 points the rest of the way.

Play #5 - J’Von puts this Game on Ice

At least once a game, we’ll see this play as J’Von will look to throw an alley-oop to Anfernee McLemore. The Tigers tried it twice and it didn’t work either time. However, on the 2nd missed attempt, the Bulldogs were unable to grab the rebound allowing J’Von to come unabated into the lane to pick up the ball and lay it in. The basket would give J’Von a new career-high in points, and a double-digit lead for Auburn that they wouldn’t relinquish.

J’Von would go 6-8 from the free throw line over the last 3 minutes to finish with a career high 28 points and Auburn improved to 13-0 (1-0) with the victory. Auburn is still 1 of 2 undefeated teams along with San Diego State and host Vanderbilt and Georgia inside Auburn Arena this week. War Eagle!



from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/1/6/21051093/top-5-plays-mississippi-state

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