AUBURN — Auburn basketball is 3-3 since blasting Alabama by 18 points in Neville Arena on Feb. 7.

The recent record doesn't scream elite, but the Tigers are beginning to couple things that translate to the postseason − shooting and defense. Those attributes were on full display in the win over Mississippi State on Saturday, yet another victory that came by double digits; all 22 of Auburn's triumphs this season have come by 11 or more points.

Coach Bruce Pearl's team knocked down 47.4% of its 3-pointer against the Bulldogs. That's after the Tigers registered marks from deep of 40.9% at Tennessee on Wednesday and 53.8% at Georgia on Feb. 24. It's the first time Auburn has shot 40% or better from long range in three consecutive contests since November 2018, as pointed out by Justin Ferguson of the Auburn Observer.

"I think about our conversations about this team this summer, on the heels of last year's team that didn't shoot it very well," Pearl said Saturday. "We all thought this was a good shooting team. We all did."

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The Tigers played some of their best defense of the season against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs were held to 22 points in the first half, averaging .688 points per possession in the opening 20 minutes. That's the second-lowest mark Auburn has contained an SEC team to in a half this season; only the first half against Texas A&M (.667) was better.

Bottling up Josh Hubbard was a big reason for Mississippi State's offensive issues. The star guard, who Pearl said should be the SEC Freshman of the Year, was held to three first-half points. He came alive for 20 points after halftime, but the Tigers had already built a 17-point lead by the time intermission hit.

"They were aggressive, on and off the ball," Hubbard said. "... It was hard getting to the rim. We had to work for catches. Little things like that. They played aggressive defense, and that kind of stopped us."

Auburn has the No. 6 adjusted defensive efficiency in the country, per KenPom. Tennessee dropped 92 points on Auburn, but it took a Herculean effort from Dalton Knecht to get that done.

It was also a rare occurrence. The Tigers have held opponents to below 80 points on 25 occasions. Auburn's defense has been good all season long, but Pearl had been waiting for the shots to start falling: "In March, if you're going to advance, you've got to start making shots," he said Feb. 24. "You've got to get hot."

"Coach has been saying recently, this is the time to get hot," Johni Broome said after the Mississippi State win. "It's time to make a run. We don't plan on losing no more. We've got two more games, then the SEC Tournament, then March Madness. So we don't want to lose any more games. It's time to get hot, so let's get hot."

The Tigers are certainly warming up.

"It's March. It's time to make shots, not take shots," Pearl said. "Guys have been putting in the work, and that's what it takes to win."

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 is beginning to check postseason boxes