Auburn 74 Mississippi State 68
K.C. Ross-Miller scored 21 points, and the Auburn Tigers snapped a losing streak that dated back almost a month in a win over Mississippi State on Wednesday in the opening round of the SEC tournament in Nashville, Tennessee.
The win was the first conference tournament victory for Auburn (13-19) since 2009.
Auburn senior KT Harrell contributed 19 points, and sophomore forward Alex Thompson scored a career-high 16 points while hitting all three of his three-point attempts for the Tigers, who entered the tournament as the 13th seed.
Mississippi State rallied to take a 65-64 lead after trailing by 11 points with 4:17 remaining in the game after a dunk by Craig Sword. Auburn finished the game on a 10-3 run, allowing just one field goal from the Bulldogs.
CSword scored 21 points for 12th-seeded Mississippi State (13-19) while I.J. Ready added 18.
Up next: Auburn moves on to face fifth-seeded Texas A&M at 3 p.m. ET on Thuursday.
South Carolina 63 Missouri 54
11th-seeded South Carolina defeated a rebuiding Missouri team on Wednesday, and were led by Sindarius Thornwell’s 18 points on a career-high four three-pointers. The Gamecocks 16-15 record is their best since the 2008-09 season, when they won 21 games.
South Carolina scored 20 points off of 16 Missouri turnovers, and were outrebounded 35-26 by the Tigers.
14th-seeded Missouri (9-23) finished the season by losing 16 of their last 18 games, giving them their worst record since the 1966-67 season.
The Tigers got within one possession several times in the second half, and closed within 52-50 with just under seven minutes to go when Montaque Gill-Caesar hit two free throws.
Michael Carrera answered with a basket of his own to start an 11-1 run that put the game away for good for South Carolina.
Missouri was led by Johnathan Williams III, who finished with nine points and 11 rebounds.
Up next: South Carolina takes on sixth-seeded Ole Miss at 9 p.m. on Thursday night.
