Mississippi State Basketball: Bulldogs stumble in loss to Ole Miss

Mississippi State Basketball: Bulldogs Stumble in Loss to Ole Miss

Mississippi State hosted a struggling Ole Miss team on Tuesday night, and it was the visiting Rebels coming away with a dominant 64-46 win. The Bulldogs fall to 9-6 (4-3 SEC), while Ole Miss’s record moves above .500 at 7-6 (2-4 SEC).

Both teams started slow, with Mississippi State holding a 7-3 lead at the under-16 timeout. The Rebels got some offense going midway through the half, and Dimencio Vaughn’s basket capped off a 10-0 run to give Ole Miss an 18-11 advantage.

The Rebels continued shuffling different defensive looks, and points were hard to come by in the first 20 minutes for MSU. After DJ Stewart’s three-point attempt missed with 11 seconds left, Jarkel Joiner came down and sunk a jumper at the free-throw line to give Ole Miss a 29-21 lead going into the locker room.

It was Mississippi State’s lowest first-half point total this season since 19 in the season-opener against Clemson.

The second half was much of the same. MSU was able to cut Ole Miss’s lead to four on several occasions, but the Rebels responded each time. After Iverson Molinar’s jumper got State within four at 42-38, Luis Rodriguez’s bucket with 6:03 left finished off a 14-3 run for Ole Miss, effectively putting the game away.

The lead ballooned to as many as 20 in the last minute, and when it was all set and done, the scoreboard read 64-46 in favor of Ole Miss.

The Rebels simply wanted it more Tuesday night at The Hump. In a game Mississippi State desperately needed to win, Ole Miss dominated in every aspect.

On a tough offensive night, Mississippi State was led by DJ Stewart with 18 points. Tolu Smith was the only other Bulldog in double-figures with 10. Molinar couldn’t get anything going for MSU, mustering only 7 points on 3-10 shooting.

Devontae Shuler finished with 22 points, leading Ole Miss in that category. Joiner added 12 points, with KJ Buffen chipped in 9 in the win.

It doesn’t get any easier for Mississippi State, who will look to bounce back on Saturday when they travel down Highway 82 to take on hot-shooting #18 Alabama. The Crimson Tide knocked down 23 threes in a 30-point rout of LSU Tuesday night. The game will tip-off at 5 PM CT on the SEC Network.