Recapping No. 22 Mississippi State's 91-88 win over Auburn at Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday.

• The buzz: MSU had to finish the game without Dee Bost and played the ol' Swiss cheese defense, but it had enough firepower to overcome all of that to improve to 4-0 at home in SEC play – those four wins have come by an average of four points. MSU was hot from 3-point range and did a much better job getting to the free throw line in the second half.

• Turning point: Auburn led 44-43 at halftime, but Bost opened up the second half by draining three 3-pointers within the first three minutes, giving State a 52-44 lead. The lead swelled to 13 points, but Auburn quickly to five. It was 87-82 MSU with 41 seconds left, but Auburn couldn't get any closer to meaningless free throws at the end.

• MVP: Tough call, but we'll go with Bost, who despite fouling out with 3:26 to go finished with 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting (all 3-pointers) and seven assists.

• MSU leaders: Arnett Moultrie 21 points (7-13 FGs, 7-11 FTs), 7 rebounds; Renardo Sidney 17 points (5-5 FGs, 1-1 3FGs, 6-9 FTs), 3 rebounds; Bost 15 points (4-6 FGs, 4-6 3FGs, 3-7 FTs), 7 assists, 4 turnovers; Jalen Steele 13 points (4-8 FGd, 3-6 3FGs, 2-2 FTs); Rodney Hood 11 points (4-8 FGs, 3-5 3FGs), 6 rebounds, 2 blocks; Brian Bryant 7 points (3-6 FGs, 1-4 FTs), 9 assists.

• Auburn leaders: Varez Ward 24 points (7-14 FGs, 1-5 3FGs, 9-12 FTs), 5 assists; Kenny Gabriel 22 points (7-14 FGs, 4-8 3FGs, 4-4 FTs), 11 rebounds; Frankie Sullivan 16 points (4-8 FGs, 1-4 3FGs, 7-10 FTs); Allen Payne 10 points (3-5 FGs, 4-4 FTs), 9 rebounds).

• Key stats: MSU was 21 of 35 from the free throw line – 19 of 33 after halftime; Auburn was 26 of 36 from the free throw line; MSU shot 60.4 percent overall, 12 of 19 from 3-point range (63.2 percent); Auburn shot 45.9 percent overall, 6 of 20 from 3-point range (30 percent); Auburn outscored State in the paint, 42-28; Auburn had 14 fast-break points, MSU none.

• Highlight reel: Bost found Moultrie on an inbounds alleyoop dunk for a 68-55 lead with 10:25 to go. Then Auburn went on a 9-1 run.

• Quotable: "We get a big lead, and I guess we let it slip sometimes. I'm getting tired of it." – Bost

• Bottom line: It wasn't pretty, and maybe having the midweek off contributed to that. But on the upside, MSU squeezed some minutes out of Roquez Johnson and, more notably, Shaun Smith (7 minutes, 5 points). The defensive lapses are discouraging, but the offensive balance was nice to see.

• Up next: MSU is home again on Thursday when Ole Miss comes down for a 6 p.m. visit. The Rebels won the first meeting in Oxford, 75-68, on Jan. 18.