NASHVILLE — It's time to party like it's 2019.

Spread the news, alert the press and break out the toilet paper: Auburn basketball has won an SEC Tournament game for the first time in five years.

The talk of extreme celebration is hyperbole, of course − a handful of fans did appear to decorate Toomer's Corner − but the 86-55 victory over South Carolina in Bridgestone Arena on Friday was cause for excitement within Auburn's locker room.

Despite the success of the Tigers and coach Bruce Pearl − at least 20 wins in six of the last seven seasons − there wasn't a player on the roster who had previously experienced a victory in the conference tournament.

"It feels like we broke a milestone," senior forward Chris Moore said. "I was scared we probably were never going to break it. It was great to win a game tonight. I feel like we're breaking history."

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Auburn ripped off three tournament wins in Pearl's first season at Auburn. The Tigers followed that up with three one-and-dones before it went on the run of all runs through both the SEC and country on the way to the Final Four in 2019.

The tournament was canceled in 2020. Auburn served a self-imposed postseason ban in 2021, got upset vs. Texas A&M in 2022 and was bounced against Arkansas in 2023.

"It was just a known thing," senior KD Johnson said. "The No. 1 team, we lost in the first round. Last year, we lost in the first round in a close game. We just made it a saying that we wasn't going to go home in the first game this year."

Auburn dominated South Carolina, especially around the rim. The Tigers outscored the Gamecocks 42-22 in the paint and registered eight blocked shots. Senior center Dylan Cardwell accounted for four of those rejections and six of those interior points.

He, like all the other veterans, had extra motivation.

"I had a conversation with BP about two or three days ago saying I hadn't won a tournament game," Cardwell said. "It was just nice to get one out of the way. The toughest game is always the first game. My sophomore year we got knocked out, we got upset by Texas A&M. The next year we got upset by Arkansas. It was nice to finally get one."

Auburn's celebration will be short lived. The Tigers, looking to win the SEC and propel themselves to a run in the NCAA Tournament like it did five years ago, will face Mississippi State on Saturday (Noon CT, ESPN).

The No. 9 Bulldogs are the lowest remaining seed in the tournament, but they knocked off top-seeded Tennessee on Friday. They made it look fairly easy, too.

"That's another stepping stone in history, but this is not the game we're focusing on," Moore said. "We've got one more tomorrow and hopefully one more Sunday."

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball snaps SEC Tournament skid by beating South Carolina