Considering the circumstances, expecting anything but a rock fight between Auburn basketball and Mississippi State would've been foolish.

Both teams have defensive units toward the top of the country, and the Bulldogs came in having not made a 3-pointer against the Tigers since March 2021. Yes, they had missed 36 consecutive triples and were 15-for-84 over their last five meetings with coach Bruce Pearl's team.

Auburn, which has struggled to shoot it from range in true road games this season, entered on the heels of a 5-for-25 performance at Alabama. The writing was on the wall for a defensive slugfest, and that's exactly what was put on display in Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday. The two squads combined for 42 first-half points.

In the end, Auburn (16-4, 5-2 SEC) couldn't escape Starkville with a win, falling 64-58 to Mississippi State (14-6, 3-4). The Tigers have lost two consecutive contests for the first time this season and remain in search of their first Quadrant 1 victory.

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Mississippi State dominates Auburn basketball inside

The Bulldogs outrebounded the Tigers 45-29 and had 14 offensive boards to Auburn's six. Mississippi State outscored the visitors in the paint, too, 34-20. The Tigers finished 19-for-56 from the field, with 19 of those misses coming from inside the 3-point arc.

Foul trouble for Dylan Cardwell

Backup big man Dylan Cardwell picked up three fouls in the first half, and he earned his fourth with with nearly 15 minutes remaining. It led to Johni Broome having to play 34 minutes, way above his season average.

An active KD Johnson

Due to what the SEC Network broadcast called a "violation of team rules," Pearl made a change to his starting lineup, inserting Tre Donaldson and KD Johnson for Aden Holloway and Denver Jones, respectively. Johnson took advantage of the opportunity with two early steals, which led to a couple of scores in a game in which points were at a premium.

Johnson finished with three takeaways, a number that doesn't include some other turnovers he helped force.

Next up on Auburn basketball's schedule

The Tigers will return to Neville Arena for their first game home game in nearly two weeks. It'll come against Vanderbilt, which Auburn beat by 15 points in Nashville earlier this season.

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's offense sputters in loss at Mississippi State