Mississippi State basketball's time in the SEC Tournament has come to an end. After lighting up LSU in the first round behind a red hot shooting performance, the Bulldogs were unable to maintain high-level offense, while still having regular lapses on the defensive end, in their second round matchup, losing to the Missouri Tigers 85-73.
State battled with Mizzou throughout the entirety of the game, with the two knotted at 69 with 4:13 remaining. The Tigers would close on a 16-4 run to pull away and send the Bulldogs home from Nashville. Mississippi State's record is now 21-12.
Mississippi State basketball reverted back to shooting poorly against Missouri
Whatever shot-making ability Mississippi State took to Nashville, they used up the vast majority of it against LSU because they looked more the team we saw late in the regular season, struggling to score at an efficient clip. The Bulldogs shot just 36.4% against Mizzou and was 6-30 from three (not to mention eight missed free throws).
Josh Hubbard scored 24 and hit some big second half shots, but he finished the day just 8-22 from the floor and 3-14 from three. Riley Kugel and Claudell Harris were a combined 0-10 shooting. RJ Melendez went 3-11. KeShawn Murphy had a solid day with 18, but he missed a handful of point blank shots at crucial moments.
Not helping matters was that when State had opportunities at momentum-grabbing plays coming off defensive stops, they couldn't convert, finishing with just six fast break points. The Bulldogs did a good job of grabbing offensive rebounds and converting on second chance opportunities, but overall they weren't good enough offensively to win.
The Bulldogs limited the Tigers' perimeter offense, but State's defense still had a lackluster performance
In State's first game against Missouri, the Tigers made 15-32 three-point attempts. MSU didn't want to allow a repeat performance, and they succeeded in that overall. Mizzou finished 8-24 from three, a merely average shooting display that you'd take if you were the Bulldogs.
The issue is that the Tigers response was to attack the paint, and they did so with plenty of success. Mizzou racked up 36 paint points and got to the free throw line with regularity in the second half. And it wasn't the Tiger bigs hurting State. Guards Tamar Bates and Tony Perkins were simply unstoppable driving to the basket.
State did make some good plays defensively, for what it's worth. They forced 15 turnovers and had spurts where they got regular stops. And of course if they did more offensively, that would have only helped their defense. But overall, this team remains shaky at best defensively.
Mississippi State will enter the NCAA Tournament looking suspect
The goal for Mississippi State entering the SEC Tournament was to use their time in Nashville to get back on track and gain momentum before the start of March Madness. They looked set to accomplish that in their win over LSU. They again look questionable after their loss to Missouri.
The Bulldogs will enter the Big Dance having lost five of seven. Both wins came against a bad LSU team, and in none of the losses would you say they played well. This team still has moments of brilliance that would lead you to believe making noise in the NCAA Tournament is possible, but they've had a lot more moments that will have many picking them to go one-and-done next week.