AUBURN | With Johni Broome and his 70 career double-doubles sidelined with an injury, Auburn needed some players to step up their rebounding.

Miles Kelly did just that and then some.

The shooting guard recorded his fifth-career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds to help the top-ranked Tigers to an 88-66 win over No. 15 Mississippi State Tuesday night at Neville Arena.

“It was a huge emphasis,” said Kelly. “When we played South Carolina, we kinda got killed on the glass. With Johni being out, the guards had to rebound down a lot. I just took it upon myself to stick my nose in there and get those boards. I knew it was needed for this game.

“Mississippi State is a physical team and long like South Carolina. I knew it was huge for me to go down there and rebound.”

Kelly, who transferred from Georgia Tech in the offseason, has heated up as Auburn has entered conference play. He had 18 points at Texas and 16 more at South Carolina last week.

He’s made 12 of 22 3-pointers in four SEC games including 3 of 5 against the Bulldogs.

“This is Miles back-to-back-to-back now, putting a few great games together,” said AU coach Bruce Pearl. “Miles is just getting more and more comfortable with his teammates. He's getting more comfortable in the system. He's big, his voice is louder, and he understands what his role is, and he understands the importance that he's just playing so productively. He understands how to play productively.

“And you know, when he's playing with better players right now than he did necessarily a year ago. He had to do so much for Georgia Tech that he forced, had to force things. He doesn't have to force his game. He can sort of let his game to him. But he's improved defensively.”

Kelly leads Auburn with 40 made 3-pointers this season. He’s been vital to the Tigers ranking third in the league with 168 made 3-pointers.

But nobody expected Kelly, who was averaging 3.0 rebounds per game, to finish with 10 boards against MSU including eight on the defensive end.

“A double-double is crazy, coming from a guard,” said forward Chaney Johnson. “It's just a testament to how he just really wanted to come to Auburn and show people he can guard, truly. He guarded and grabbed rebounds and made 3s.”

Auburn, which improved to 16-1 overall and 4-0 in the SEC, plays at No. 23 Georgia Saturday at noon on SEC Network.