Just when it seemed that Mississippi State basketball was getting things rolling, they hit a speedbump. The #21 Bulldogs lost at Oklahoma, 93-87, on Saturday.
It was the perfect definition of a "trap game" for MSU. State, coming off consecutive ranked wins to lock up an NCAA Tournament berth, was going on the road against a Sooner team in total desperation mode, having lost five-straight to see their own postseason hopes fall in serious danger.
State fell right into that trap, as Oklahoma came out with an energy and effort the Bulldogs failed to match. Mississippi State is now 19-8 on the year, 7-7 in the SEC.
Mississippi State returned to poorly defending the three against Oklahoma
In the last two games, State held opponents to 14-47 shooting from three. It looked like this squad had turned a corner in perimeter defense after struggling for much of the year. It seems those performances were simply outliers.
One of Oklahoma's strengths has been their three-point offense, and that was on full display as they knocked down 11-26 from beyond the arc. It's painfully clear at this point that if the Bulldogs face a team that's built to hit threes, regardless of how they've performed otherwise, that matchup will likely give them problems.
The Bulldogs' own offense didn't play well enough to keep pace with the Sooners
You'd rarely put blame on a team's offensive effort when they score 87 points in a loss, but State simply wasn't efficient enough on that end of the court to keep pace with OU. The Bulldogs finished under 40% shooting for the game, and their 32% shooting from three looks better after some makes in the closing minutes while down multiple possessions.
Offensive rebounding (21 second chance points) and a great day at the free throw line (19-22) kept State in the game. But in a game where your defensive effort was so poor, relying on those factors over actual shot-making is unlikely to work out.
Mississippi State basketball's loss to Oklahoma seemed worse than it actually is
Bulldog fans are frustrated with this performance, and rightfully so. Laying an egg against a struggling team when you finally had momentum stings. But the perception of this loss doesn't necessarily match the reality.
Despite the Sooners' issues, at #54 in the NET, this was still just a Quad 1 matchup for State. A Q1 road loss isn't going to damage the resume of a team like State that has already put together a tournament-worthy resume. A win would've been nice to further strengthen their case, but the loss ultimately didn't hurt them.
Mississippi State needs to respond well, and that'll be tough given their next game is at Alabama, but there's no need to overreact to this performance.