AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Auburn had the motivation and a hot-shooting Frank Tolbert, and Mississippi State couldn't overcome either.
Tolbert scored a career-high 29 points and the Tigers shot a season-best 60 percent in a 90-76 win over the Bulldogs on Saturday.
The rematch was nothing like the Bulldogs' 90-53 win a month earlier, and Auburn coach Jeff Lebo doesn't think that's a fluke.
"I think coming into this game we had a mental edge and I think that happens in basketball when a team has already beaten you badly," Lebo said.
The Tigers (11-10, 2-6 Southeastern Conference) built up a 24-point lead in the first half and led 46-27, thanks to a 30-5 run and Tolbert's 17 points.
He came in averaging 5.8 points and correctly figured the Bulldogs (17-6, 5-4) would focus more on containing Toney Douglas and Ian Young.
"I knew coming out that the defense was going to play off of me," said Tolbert, who made 10 of 14 shots, including four 3-pointers. "The defense really concentrates on Toney and Ian so when I get my chance I just want to make my shots."
But with Tolbert making just his fifth start and averaging less than four points in league games, even Lebo wondered "what got into Frank tonight." He had 26 points in his first seven league games.
Douglas had 21 points and five assists for the Tigers, who had assists on 24 of 30 baskets to overcome a huge size disadvantage. Quinnel Brown had 16 points and Nathan Watson added 13 points.
While the lopsided game on Jan. 5 helped fuel the Tigers, Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said his team might have come in expecting a similar outcome.
"I think our guys had that mentality heading into today's game, and I did all I could as a coach to help them fight that mentality," Stansbury said. "Auburn came out and shot the lights out, and we had no answers for it.
"We had no stops in their transition offense, and we just didn't do a great job of fighting."
The Tigers, who had lost six of their last seven games, made 14 of 24 3-point attempts, including 3-of-3 performances from Watson and Douglas.
The Bulldogs fell out of the polls this week for the first time in more than a year and couldn't come closer than 11 points in the second half.
Lawrence Roberts, who dominated the first matchup with 15 rebounds, had just 16 points and seven boards though the Tigers didn't play anybody over 6-foot-6.
Shane Power had 18 points, Ontario Harper 13 and Jamall Edmondson and Dietric Slater 11 apiece for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs were outscored 36-7 after opening the game with a 9-4 lead, largely thanks to Tolbert, who came in averaging less than four points in league games.
"They dictated the game from start to finish, and we never responded," Harper said. "They came out and played aggressively on both sides of the court, and it made it harder for us than it should have been."
