Mississippi State basketball is undefeated no more. The 25th-ranked Bulldogs lost in the Arizona Tip-Off championship game to the Butler Bulldogs 87-77. State is now 6-1 on the season.
State's defense left a lot to be desired against Butler
Defense has been the calling card for State under Chris Jans, but you wouldn't have known that against Butler. The opposing Bulldogs shot nearly 53% from the floor and were a blistering 54.6% from three with 12 makes. Butler had a pair of starters go for 20+ and got 31 points from their bench. State left plenty of shots wide open on the perimeter, and on several occasions, they completely abandoned the post leading to easy buckets for Butler. They just looked lackadaisical on defense.
MSU's offense didn't deliver either
It was a rough night on both ends of the floor for Mississippi State. They shot just 37.7% from the floor and 26% from three. Those percentages were worse in the first half. State went 1-14 from distance in the first half. They had good looks. They just couldn't connect. In the closing minutes of the second half, they had a opportunity to tie the game and missed on what should have been easy makes. They were dominated on the glass and didn't have many second-chance opportunities.
Mississippi State has great depth, but it didn't show in this game
We've talked a lot about State's depth, and there's no doubt it's a strength. But it didn't show up in this game. State had just eight points from their bench against Butler. Kanye Clary (who started), Claudell Harris, and RJ Melendez went a combined 0-8. KeShawn Murphy only had six points, though he did have 12 rebounds. Shawn Jones only provided two points in 23 minutes of action. In the past, this wouldn't be anything crazy for State given their defense. 77 points would've been more than enough. But on a night where they struggled to defend, they needed more players to step up and didn't get that.