Feb. 14, 2009
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AUBURN, Ala. (AP) --This was Tay Waller's kind of game, where both teams were fearlessly launching 3-pointers with defenders in their face.
And hitting them, too.
Waller scored a career-high 32 points and made 8-of-12 3-pointers _ including five in rapid-fire fashion early _ to lead Auburn to a 91-76 win over Mississippi State on Saturday.
"It just felt good today," the junior college transfer said. "In the shootaround, I was very loose for some reason and it just carried over to the game."
Waller hit five 3-pointers in the opening 4:19 for the Tigers (16-9, 5-5 Southeastern Conference), several of them with defenders in his face. Auburn rode his fast start to a season-high in points and 3s and continued a recent hot streak.
"I don't know if any of them were easy shots," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said. "Give him some credit. Give Auburn credit. We can talk about our bad defense, but give him credit. He came up and made some shots."
The Tigers have won three straight league games for the second time in nearly five seasons under coach Jeff Lebo and the first time in two years. The Bulldogs (16-9, 6-4) suffered another tough loss after dropping a double-overtime game to LSU earlier this week. They had won 13 of the last 15 meetings.
The Tigers made 13-of-27 3s in the game while Mississippi State launched 35 and made 10.
"The teams are kind of mirror-images of each other a little bit, playing small, shooting the ball from the perimeter," Lebo said. "Tay was on fire to start the game. It was a big start for us. The first 10 or 12 minutes we were on fire. The last eight minutes (of the first half) they were on fire."
The Tigers even made 24-of-32 free throws after hitting a league-low 59.4 percent from the line coming into the game. They missed only three times in 19 second-half attempts.
Waller had made only four 3s in his last three games combined, but hit two in a 38-second span to get Auburn going in the opening minutes and never really cooled off. He finished with the second-highest total from beyond the arc in the SEC this year. Kentucky's Jodie Meeks made 10 3s against Tennessee.
Point guard DeWayne Reed didn't need much convincing to keep getting the ball to Waller.
"I hit two and Reed told me to keep working away from the ball and he was looking for me," Waller said.
Reed had 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Frankie Sullivan added 14 points and Korvotney Barber had 11 points and eight boards for the Tigers.
Jarvis Varnado had 20 points and four blocked shots for the Bulldogs and Barry Stewart had 18 points for Mississippi State and passed 1,000 for his career. Dee Bost made four 3s and scored 13 points while Ravern Johnson finished with 11.
The Bulldogs scored 10 consecutive points early in the second half to take a five-point lead. Waller halted the run with his seventh 3.
"Waller got them going again," Stansbury said. "They started making shots. It's that simple sometimes."
The Bulldogs made one more brief run. They hit two straight baskets to cut a 10-point deficit down to 81-75 with 4:24 left. The Tigers scored the next six points, including a drive by Waller, to pull away.
Waller's fast start helped Auburn build a 17-point lead in the first half.
The Bulldogs pulled to within 42-40 by halftime, and Stansbury felt that was proof they weren't suffering a carryover effect from the loss to LSU.
"If there was any, I don't think we would have come back from 17 down," he said. "Most teams would have caved."