Auburn’s first and last baskets of the first half against Mississippi State encapsulated the kind of night it was at Neville Arena — in more ways than one.

The first make was a Jaylin Williams 3-pointer from the left wing, the last an Allen Flanigan stepback triple from the right wing. Both came with the clock winding down — Williams’ with the shot clock dwindling amid a slow start for the Tigers, Flanigan’s to beat the game clock at the end of the half. It was the kind of tough shot-making the Tigers needed against one of the nation’s stingiest defenses, and it was the kind of perimeter shooting Bruce Pearl’s team has been lacking for much of the season.

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Both helped contribute to a 69-63 win Saturday night against the Bulldogs, as No. 21 Auburn extended its home winning streak to 28 games while picking up its third straight win in SEC play.

Auburn shot 11-of-25 from deep. That included five made 3-pointers from Williams, who had a season-high 21 points and was one made 3-pointer shy of his career high, while Wendell Green Jr. drained a deep 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 2:13 to go to snap a 4-minute, 38-second scoring drought and give the Tigers a new season-high for makes from deep. Green’s long-range bomb came after the Bulldogs got within four points — the closest they got in the second half — and was part of a late surge from the starting point guard, who scored 11 of the Tigers’ final 12 points and helped them stave off the Bulldogs down the stretch while finishing with 17 points.

Here are AL.com’s key takeaways from Saturday’s win, which pushed Auburn to 14-3 overall and 4-1 in SEC play:

The Jaylin Williams show

After Auburn’s season-ending loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year, Pearl spoke about how he wanted to make Jaylin Williams a linchpin of the 2022-23 Tigers. Saturday night against Mississippi State, Williams again showed why.

The junior stretch-four turned in his best game of the season, scoring a season-high 21 points while shooting 8-of-15 from the floor, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. He added seven rebounds and a pair of assists before fouling out with 2:34 to play and Auburn ahead by five. Williams finished three points—and one made 3-pointer—shy of matching his career high in scoring and made 3-pointers in a game, both of which came against Ole Miss two years ago.

Williams stole the show in the first half, when he scored 15 points — a career high for a first half — and added three boards and an assist. In that first half, Williams shot 6-of-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from deep. He opened the game with that 3-pointer to beat the shot clock for Auburn’s first points, and then he made one on a stop-and-pop from the top of the key in transition to give the Tigers an early 8-4 lead.

It wasn’t just his offense, though. Immediately after that transition 3-pointer, Williams drew a charge on the other end of the court. Still, it was his offense that shined brightest, as he got deep in his bag — 3-pointers, his signature baby hook and even a floater off a mean Euro-step while scoring 12 of Auburn’s first 15 on the night In the second half, he also whipped a no-look pass from the perimeter to Dylan Cardwell in the paint. Cardwell slammed home the dunk to give Auburn a 12-point lead with 12:15 to play.

A defensive slugfest

For as unforgiving as Mississippi State’s defense is — the Bulldogs entered the night eighth in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom — Auburn’s defense showed it can go blow for blow on that end, too.

Auburn held Mississippi State to just 63 points, the ninth time the Tigers have held an opponent to 63 points or fewer this season. Mississippi State shot just 37.5 percent overall against Auburn, including a stunning 0-of-18 performance from 3-point range. Mississippi State also went 0-for from deep in last season’s overtime meeting with Auburn. Much of the Bulldogs’ damage came in the paint, where they scored 40 of their points on the night, including all 22 of their points in the first half.

Even when the Bulldogs got within five with 9:02 to play, the Tigers didn’t allow another made basket for nearly 2 ½ minutes. That included a possession in which Mississippi State missed three shot attempts — two from beyond the arc — before Auburn corralled the ball, which led to a thunderous transition dunk by Allen Flanigan to push the lead back to seven.

Auburn forced 16 turnovers for the game and finished the night with 10 steals, the fifth time the Tigers have had double-digit steals this season and the first time in SEC play. It would have put Mississippi State away wit a bit more ease had it not been for late fouls and turnovers that sent the Bulldogs to the free-throw line down the stretch. Mississippi State attempted 12 free throws over the final 2:34 of the game, making nine of them, while Auburn committed three turnovers in the final 1:14 — including two on inbound passes. Fortunately for the Tigers, the Bulldogs also made just one of their last six shot attempts over the final 5 minutes of the game.

Another solid night for Allen Flanigan, except in one area

Allen Flanigan continued his stretch of impressive play, and it’s safe to say the Tigers’ senior wing is fully back to his old self. Flanigan registered his fourth straight game in double-figure scoring —extending the best stretch of basketball he has had since late in his sophomore season—and once again filled the box score for Auburn.

Flanigan finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists. That included his buzzer-beating 3-pointer to close the first half, as well as the aforementioned thunderous dunk in transition that provided an answer after Mississippi State got within five in the second half.

Though Flanigan was responsible for seven of Auburn’s 20 turnovers against a pesky Mississippi Stat defense, his overall performance provided the kind of solid effort the Tigers needed from him on a night that they were without starting wing Chris Moore, who was out due to the right shoulder injury he sustained in the opening minutes of Tuesday’s game at Ole Miss. With Moore sidelined, Flanigan drew his second start of the season—his first since the Colgate game in early December—and followed through in a relatively big way for the Tigers.

AL.com will update this post.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.