No. 8 Auburn (12-0, 0-0) vs. Mississippi State (9-3, 0-0)
Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, Mississippi; Saturday, 4:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Mississippi State hosts No. 8 Auburn as conference play starts for both teams. In conference play last season, Auburn finished with 12 wins and seven losses, while Mississippi State won 10 games and lost eight.
TEAM LEADERSHIP: Mississippi State's Reggie Perry has averaged 15.4 points and 9.8 rebounds while Tyson Carter has put up 15.4 points and 4.2 assists. For the Tigers, Samir Doughty has averaged 16.4 points while Austin Wiley has put up 10.8 points and 9.5 rebounds.DOMINANT DOUGHTY: Doughty has connected on 35.7 percent of the 70 3-pointers he's attempted and has made 5 of 17 over the last three games. He's also made 75.8 percent of his free throws this season.
ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Tigers have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Bulldogs. Mississippi State has an assist on 39 of 76 field goals (51.3 percent) across its past three matchups while Auburn has assists on 49 of 79 field goals (62 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Mississippi State is ranked first among Division I teams with an offensive rebound percentage of 41 percent. The Bulldogs have averaged 13.1 offensive boards per game.
