AUBURN | Bruce Pearl was desperate for a spark after a roller coaster of a game that saw Auburn blow a 19-point lead and trail Mississippi State 61-59 with two minutes remaining.

It was an almost identical blueprint to how the Tigers had lost their previous two road games.

With an SEC Championship hanging in the balance, Pearl knew he had to try something new.

For the first time this season, he sent a three-guard lineup on the floor that consisted of Zep Jasper, Wendell Green, K.D. Johnson, Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler.

“Nope, those guys have never played together,” said Pearl. “I wanted Wendell out there because I wanted the ball in his hands. I wanted Zep out there because of his defense, and he wouldn't turn it over. I wanted K.D. out there to make plays.

“I wanted Jabari out there because he's the best player in college basketball. And I wanted Walker out there -- Walker had some huge blocks, huge rebounds and a big rebound down the stretch.”

And it worked. Boy, did it work.

Smith hit a pull-up jumper with 51 seconds left to send the game to overtime. Pearl sent the same lineup back on the floor and they proceeded to outscore the Bulldogs 20-7 in overtime coming off a second half in which they were outscored by MSU 33-21.

AU’s offense nearly did as much in five minutes of overtime as it did in 20 minutes of the second half.

The new lineup worked out especially well for K.D. Johnson. The sophomore had scored just two points on 1 of 5 shooting in regulation before dominating overtime with 12 points on 3 of 3 shooting from the floor including a 3-pointer and 5 of 5 from the free throw line.

“It was just K.D. time. Everybody saw it,” said Pearl. “I did go with a small lineup in the last few minutes of the game and throughout the overtime. That lineup hadn't played together all year. But just felt like that group could get it done.”

Auburn won 81-68 clinching its fourth-ever regular season SEC championship. Pearl now has three championships in eight seasons at Auburn. He’s won regular season championships in 2018 and 2022 and an SEC Tournament championship along with a trip to the Final Four in 2019.

“I'm just so proud of these guys and so happy for them,” said Pearl. “And I'm so proud of them -- and I'm happy for Auburn. This is our third championship in four years, and these suckers don't come easy.”

The Tigers can win the title outright and clinch the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament with a win over South Carolina Saturday in the final regular season game of the year.

Tip-off at Neville Arena is schedule for noon CT on SEC Network.