Senior guard Ravern Johnson scored a game-high 21 points as Mississippi State rolled over visiting Auburn 85-66 in an SEC game Sunday afternoon.

Renardo Sidney contributed 15 points and six rebounds for Mississippi State. Jalen Steele and Riley Benock added 11 points each and Dee Bost had nine points and seven assists for the Bulldogs (10-7, 2-1 SEC), who moved into a four-way tie for first place in the SEC West after their second straight victory.

Earnest Ross had 15 points and Kenny Gabriel 14 to lead Auburn (7-10, 0-3). The Tigers lost their third straight game after winning four in a row.

The Bulldogs jumped on Auburn early, building a 22-3 lead with 11:34 left in the first half after consecutive 3-pointers by Bost, Benock, and Johnson. The Tigers hit just one of their first 11 shots, while Mississippi State spread out the scoring evenly. The Bulldogs led by as much as 21, but settled for a 41-22 halftime lead shooting 58.3 percent (14 of 24) from the field.

Johnson, who scored just 14 points in the first two SEC games of the season, had 12 points in the first half for the Bulldogs, and Bost had eight.

Auburn closed to within 53-41 with 13 minutes left in the game, but the Bulldogs responded with a 9-0 run to regain control.