The Auburn Tigers dropped the ball on another massive opportunity to get back on track Wednesday night on the road in Starkville, falling 91-85 after a dramatic comeback effort from an 18-point deficit saw them take the lead late.

Ultimately, the Bulldogs were able to fight back and take the game back behind a historic night from their star Josh Hubbard, who is one of the best offensive players in all of college basketball. On Wednesday, Hubbard scored 46 points with nine rebounds and absolutely torched Auburn down the stretch to get the victory.

Going 10 of 16 from the three-point line, Hubbard score more than half of Mississippi State’s points on the evening.

After the game, Tigers head coach Steven Pearl — who has now guided the team to their fifth straight defeat and has them on the brink of bubble status for the NCAA Tournament — called the loss the worst he’s been a part of during his long tenure on The Plains.

“It’s not great,” Pearl said after the game when asked about the mood in the locker room.

“Everybody is obviously disappointed with the result, but if we can draw from those 15 minutes in the second half where we played really well, we can do something with it. If we continue to have slow starts, we’re not gonna win any games. We’ve got to make a decision on how we’re going to start games. We can’t wait until we’re down 18 to start playing desperate. We’ve got to play desperate when it’s 0-0.”

Moving forward, Auburn has a home game this Saturday night against Kentucky which all of the sudden becomes a complete must-win and perhaps the most important matchup of their season. Aside from a trip to Tuscaloosa in the final game of the regular season, the Wildcats present the Tigers with one last chance to build a resume before tournament decisions start being made.

Now at 5-8 in conference play and just 14-12 overall, a victory is absolutely critical if Pearl is going to avoid missing the tournament in his first year in the big chair.