For a moment on Tuesday night, it appeared that Mississippi State basketball was going to pull off a remarkable comeback. Down nine to Texas in the last few minutes, State closed regulation on an 11-2 run, typing the game at 71 with 12 seconds left after a steal on a Longhorn inbound to force overtime.
Then down 83-82 with 23 seconds left in overtime, MSU guard Riley Kugel went to the free throw line with a chance to either tie or take the lead. Kugel did neither, missing both attempts, and the Bulldogs would ultimately fall to the Longhorns 87-82 on Senior Night in Starkville.
Mississippi State sits at 20-10 (8-9) with one regular season game to go.
Texas' two-man show too much for Mississippi State defense
Texas hasn't been a great offensive team this season, but they've got a superstar in true freshman Tre Johnson, the SEC's leading scorer. They also got a capable scorer in Tramon Mark (who led Arkansas with over 16 PPG last season) back from injury against State. Those two made the Bulldogs pay.
Johnson and Mark combined for 47 points on 59% shooting. The rest of the Longhorns totaled 40 points on 40% shooting. They went 10-15 from three. Everyone else was 1-8. State wasn't just leaving them open all game. They made great shots. But two guys catching fire was too much.
Balanced scoring aside, Mississippi State's offensive performance not enough
In a game where six Bulldogs were in double-figures, you wouldn't expect offense to have been an issue in the loss. But this wasn't a great game from State offensively. In SEC play, Texas has allowed teams to shoot 46% from the floor and 36% from three. State shot 40% and just 24% from three. They managed just four second chance points on 12 offensive rebounds (while allowing 14 second chance points the other way). And keep in mind, they had just 71 points in regulation.
Texas' gameplan was simple: lockdown Josh Hubbard. They were successful in doing so, shutting him out in the first half. He'd finish with 16 but on a horrible shooting day. Other players picked up the slack, but as has been discussed with this team before, they can't afford to be so inefficient on offense when their opponents are making shots consistently.
Bulldogs' fight is respectable but overall effort uninspiring
State deserves credit for fighting back into this game. They trailed by as much as 14 in the second half and were down nine with under four minutes to go. While they've allowed other games to get completely away from them, they were determined to find a way in this one. Their resilience in those final minutes to force overtime was impressive.
However, the overall effort left a lot to be desired. It was Senior Night with State as a big favorite against a middling team. Yes, the Longhorns were fighting for their tournament lives, but there's no excuse for such lackluster play for the majority of the game. There wasn't even anything on paper to suggest Texas was a bad matchup.
State had a chance to continue building towards a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament. Instead they took a loss that keep them behind many of the teams they're fighting against. At a time when you want the Bulldogs playing their best, they've continued to be wildly inconsistent.