In the first half of Saturday's victory over South Carolina, Auburn got demolished by the Gamecocks on the boards, allowing Lamont Paris' team to come down with 11 offensive rebounds for 11 second-chance points that helped the home team hold a 40-34 lead over the Tigers.

While the second half was better — just four offensive boards and four second-chance points — Dylan Cardwell and his teammates know what happened against the Gamecocks can't continue if the top-ranked Tigers want to stay in that ranking.

"Man, at some point, we just gotta want it more," Cardwell said. "That's all it's gonna boil down to. There's a stat BP told us that South Carolina is the 14th worst offensive rebounding team in the SEC. I mean, they punked us."

It will be a vital statistic on Tuesday against No. 15 Mississippi State who enter the matchup tied at 41st by averaging 13.12 offensive rebounds per game. And, with Johni Broome out at least against the Bulldogs, it will take a total team effort to ensure State doesn't control the boards.

"Everybody's gotta – permanent checkouts," Bruce Pearl said. "Guys gotta put bodies on bodies. Gotta stay in the possession. You can't lead out on the fast break. And look, there are also times when you're doing all those things, and they physically make plays. I mean, they physically, you talk about some big, strong guys. You can do all that I just said, and they still can move you out and still go get a rebound. So, that's just part of the challenge."

Saying that, the Auburn head coach also knows he has the players that are capable of keeping opponents off the boards.

"We've got good overall length, and guards are going to have to rebound down," he said. "We're just gonna have to be more physical with our checkouts and not leak out of the break. Tackle 50-50 balls and be more intentional."