STARKVILLE, Mississippi (Ticker) -- Lawrence Roberts made sure that Mississippi State continued its dominance over Auburn.

Roberts scored 12 of his 19 points in the first half and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead No. 22 Mississippi State to its eighth consecutive win over Auburn with a 90-53 victory in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.

The 37-point margin of victory was the largest over Auburn in school history, and the biggest point discrepancy in the seventh-year tenure of coach Rick Stansbury.

"I thought the difference in the game was that we basically wore (Auburn) down," Stansbury said. "I think that really had an effect on them making shots. Coach (Jeff) Lebo is doing a terrific job with that team. He does not have a lot of size, but as I said before the game, they are a very difficult team to guard because you saw their (center) come out and shoot threes and play off the dribble."

The Tigers proved difficult from the start, taking a 21-20 lead late in the first half. Roberts scored four points during a 17-4 run that gave the Bulldogs (13-2, 1-0 SEC West) a 37-25 lead at halftime. Roberts had 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds over the first 20 minutes.

Roberts, who was named the SEC Player of the Week for the second straight time on Monday, struggled from the floor, going 5-of-14, but made 9-of-11 attempts from the free-throw line. He also collected five offensive rebounds en route to his seventh double-double of the season, and 45th of his two-year career at Starkville.

"We wanted to come out tonight and be aggressive," Roberts said. "It was our opening SEC game, so we wanted to play really hard and come out and get the win."

In the second half, Winsome Frazier scored eight of his 12 points as the Bulldogs rolled to their seventh straight win behind 75 percent (21-of-28) shooting after the intermission.

Jamall Edmondson scored 12 points and Gary Ervin chipped in 11, seven rebounds and six assists for Mississippi State, which outscored the Tigers in the paint, 50-12.

"At halftime, some of the guys noticed that we weren't knocking down a lot of shots from the outside, but we knew that if we were able to penetrate and get in the lane, then we would be able to get a lot of offensive rebounds and put them back in," Ervin said. "That's what helped us tonight. It wasn't just Lawrence playing well inside the paint, but it was everybody."

Toney Douglas scored 14 points and Ian Young added 10 points for Auburn (9-5, 0-1), which shot 27 percent (18-of-68) from the floor and was outrebounded, 53-33.

The Tigers, who had just two players score in double figures, struggled mightily from the outside, missing 10-of-38 attempts from 3-point range.

"We're playing freshmen," Lebo said. "We've got a whole week to work and get ready for Florida next. I told the team that it doesn't get any easier. We've got to play better, execute better, there's no room for margin of error."