AUBURN, Ala. -- Mississippi State took Auburn's best shot -- including a pair of career performances -- and kept its impressive run going.
Shane Power hit four free throws in the final 19 seconds and No. 11 Mississippi State won 73-68 on Saturday for its best league start in 41 years.
"We took an awfully good shot," Bulldogs coach Rick Stansbury said. "We knew they had their backs to the wall. We knew this had to be a monster game for them."
Mississippi State (18-1, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) could be heading for a big season, winning its fifth straight since a one-point loss to Kentucky and racing to a league-best record.
Timmy Bowers had 17 points and Lawrence Roberts had 14 points and 11 rebounds despite foul trouble for the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State won despite career nights by Quinnel Brown and Lewis Monroe for the Tigers (11-7, 2-5), who have lost four of five games and the last six meetings.
"Mississippi State showed everybody here today why they are so good," Auburn coach Cliff Ellis said. "Our guys fought hard and I think we had the best perimeter game we have had all year."
It wasn't enough as the Bulldogs outrebounded Auburn 41-25.
"Rebounding is mental. When you have an attitude, you can rebound," said Brown, who had a career-high 20 points. "They just had a bad attitude tonight."
Auburn cut it to 67-66 with 2:10 left when Monroe stole the ball from Winsome Frazier, and Brandon Robinson tipped in a missed shot. Brown had made three free throws after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt 38 seconds earlier to keep the Tigers' hopes of an upset alive.
Then, Roberts hit two free throws with 1:11 left and Mississippi State got the ball back but committed a turnover off a deflected pass. Nathan Watson followed up his own miss to make it 69-68 with 21 seconds left, and Marco Killingsworth promptly fouled Power after the inbound pass.
Power made both and hit two more with three seconds left after Watson missed a free throw and a 3-pointer.
"I definitely think that was toughness," Bowers said. "They just kept fighting. They just shot the ball well. On the road, you've got to have the poise and confidence to go out and make the plays."
The Bulldogs are off to their best league start since the 1962-63 team opened 8-1. They had won their last four SEC games by double digits.
This one wasn't nearly so easy, with Brown scoring a career-high and Monroe adding 17, his highest total. In fact, Monroe made six of his seven shots after going 2-of-23 in his first six games back from a broken left foot.
"We're getting healthy," said Watson, who had 12 points and five assists. "Seeing him go out there and make big shots like that just gives us that much more confidence in our team."
Killingsworth was held to eight points and three rebounds after playing only four minutes of the first half. He and Roberts both played the second half with three fouls.
Branden Vincent had 13 points for the Bulldogs while Power finished with 10 points and four steals.
Killingsworth picked up two fouls in the first four minutes trying to guard Roberts, who drew foul after foul from a group of defenders but still recorded his 12th double-double.
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