Rebels blow out Bulldogs
OXFORD – Mississippi State finally got off to the strong start it has been wanting.
The Bulldogs have had multiple games lately where they had to claw back from behind to win.
On Tuesday night in Oxford though, State was sitting pretty midway through the first half against Ole Miss, sporting a comfortable 13-point lead, then the wheels completely came off for MSU.
The Bulldogs ultimately fell 83-58 to the Rebels at The Pavilion. The game turned into every bit the blowout that the final score indicates.
“That's the first time all year anyone has beaten us like that,” Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland said.
It was a frustrating night on multiple fronts for the Bulldogs.
First, there was the blown lead. MSU charged strong out of the gate. The Bulldogs built a 26-13 advantage 13 minutes into the game and led 31-18 with just 4:20 remaining until halftime.
“I thought we came out in the first 10 minutes and played about as well as we can play at both ends of the floor,” Howland said.
The good times wouldn't last for State (15-9, 6-5). Ole Miss (13-11, 4-7) closed the opening period on a 15-3 run to shrink MSU'S lead to just one. Suddenly, it was evident the Rebels weren't going down on their home floor without a fight.
“We got off to this kind of horrendous start with foul trouble and got ourselves in a hole,” Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis said. “We just talked about, ‘Just settle in.' The way we ended the half I thought was critical.”
The Rebels carried their momentum into the second half. Devontae Shuler hit a jumper in the opening seconds after the intermission to give Ole Miss a 35-34 lead and it wouldn't trail again.
A big part of State's inability to fight back was the effectiveness of the Rebel defense. Ole Miss frustrated the Bulldogs throughout the night.
State had 17 turnovers to just seven for the Rebels. The Bulldogs shot just 30.4 percent in the second half as Ole Miss pulled away.
“The zone (defense) gave us problems,” State guard Robert Woodard II said. “It slowed us down on offense and made us basically waste a lot of time so that we wouldn't have much shot clock to work with. It did what it was supposed to do.”
Howland mentioned on Monday his team was preparing for the Rebel defensive style. It proved to not be enough come game time on Tuesday.
“Obviously, we didn't (have a good handle on it),” Howland said. “We talked about how we have to attack it, but the doubleteam bothered us. (Ole Miss) really fed off the turnovers.”
No one struggled as much against the Ole Miss defense as MSU'S Nick Weatherspoon. The junior point guard didn't score a point, was 0-for-5 shooting from the field and had six turnovers. His night epitomized the evening's aggravation for MSU.
In the end, about the only bright spot for the Bulldogs was forward Reggie Perry. He again had a solid night. Perry came up just shy of a double-double with 24 points and eight rebounds in the losing effort.
The showcase performance of the contest though, and the effort that put the game away for the Rebels, was the play of guard Breein Tyree. The defending Southeastern Conference Player of the Week lit up MSU. He scored a whopping 40 points. Tyree alone outscored MSU'S entire team in the second half. Tyree scored 27 second-half points to MSU'S 24.
“He's a tremendous player and got on a roll,” Howland said of Tyree. “Give the kid a lot of credit. He made some tough shots even with guys hanging on him. The tough ones are the ones where he's driving and we're not giving enough help. I thought early in the game we did a tremendous job defending him, but like the veteran that he is, he just bided his time and finally got it going.”
Tyree subbed out of the game with 58 seconds left to play. The damage had been done and Mississippi State was no doubt headed towards its lopsided loss.
While Ole Miss fans inside The Pavilion celebrated Tyree's effort and the victory, the mood was totally different for the visiting Bulldogs and their head coach.
There was no avoiding it. This was a loss that stung. Not only did the Bulldogs blow a double-digit lead, they ended up getting ran out of the gym.
With a game at Arkansas quickly approaching at noon on Saturday, State's goal now is just shaking off what happened in Oxford as fast as possible.
“To lose to your arch rival and lose that bad really, really stinks,” Howland said. “That pain you deal with has to drive you to come back and come together.
“We've got to bounce back. We can't let this loss beat us twice.”