Mississippi State basketball has been knocked out of the NCAA Tournament after just one game, falling to Baylor 75-72. State got a huge game from Josh Hubbard, finished 50% shooting from the floor, and held Baylor to just 6-24 shooting from three.
If you went into the game knowing those things, I guarantee you Mississippi State fans would have said the Bulldogs won easily. In fact, you'd say that in order to lose, it clearly would've had to have been totally self-inflicting. Well, that's what happened. Here's how the Bulldogs blew it against Baylor...
Mississippi State had a horrible rebounding effort
Nothing hurt Mississippi State more against Baylor than their inability to rebound the ball. Despite having a major size advantage over the Bears, Baylor owned the glass, finishing +8 on the boards. They racked up 15 offensive rebounds that resulted in 22 second-chance points. Baylor didn't have a great shooting day at just 43.5%, and they weren't able to exploit State's leaky perimeter defense. But they got so many extra opportunities that their mediocre shooting didn't matter.
The Bulldogs committed far too many turnovers
Mississippi State had a good shooting day, finishing 50% from the floor and making 10 three-pointers. But they still wasted far too many possessions with turnovers. State committed 14 turnovers against Baylor. Baylor was able to turn those miscues into 17 points. Again, on a day where Baylor wasn't shooting particularly well, State gifted them extra chances and easy points. Even with all the second-chance points, if State just protects the basketball, they probably would have done enough to win.
Mississippi State was allergic to getting the ball into the paint
You probably wouldn't complain too much about shot selection when you finish shooting 50%, but Mississippi State's offensive approach still didn't make much sense. As previously stated, the Bulldogs had a major size advantage over Baylor. This was especially true in the post. KeShawn Murphy, Michael Nwoko, and Cameron Matthews should have been able to bully the Bears inside, and yet State refused to get them touches, settling for perimeter shots. Though 10 of those shots fell, it's not like State was raining in threes all game. They had several stretches where they went cold but still chose not to find other ways to score. Baylor had a weakness they were built to exploit, but they failed to take advantage.