Bulldogs see rally fall short
It was the second time the Mississippi State Bulldogs had the Alabama Crimson Tide on the ropes late in a men’s basketball game this season.
Both times Southeastern Conference regular season champion Alabama found a way to survive against MSU.
The Bulldogs rallied from a 13-point deficit with 19:04 remaining in the game to cut the margin all of the way to 56-53 at the 4:17 mark, but couldn’t get any closer as the Crimson Tide left the Humphrey Coliseum with a 64-59 victory.
Jalen Johnson had three good looks for State from 3-point range with the game at 56-53, but none of them were able to drop. Johnson was not alone in missing from 3 as the Bulldogs were 1-of-12 from long range. They were also just 10-of-17 from the free-throw line.
“That’s really the difference is the foul shooting and 3-point shooting,” MSU head coach Ben Howland said. “I thought our guys played incredibly hard and really battled. We had a chance there 56-53 with a shot by Jalen Johnson that would’ve tied it with about a minute to go, but he unfortunately missed it.”
The scoring of D.J. Stewart Jr. and Tolu Smith of the Bulldogs coming out of halftime trimmed the deficit to 54-49 with 9:47 remaining in the game.
Iverson Molinar’s basket got
MSU to within 56-53.
Alabama increased its advantage to 59-53 4 minutes later on a 3-pointer by James Rojas after two of the Johnson 3-point misses.
Despite the loss, Howland was once again proud of the way the Bulldogs rallied.
“I don’t think there was a lot, in terms of strategy, about what we did differently (in the second half),” Howland said. “We showed a lot of fight, a lot of heart.”
Tolu Smith scored the first basket of the game to put MSU on top. Smith scored again to give the Bulldogs their largest lead at 8-5 with 12:44 minutes remaining in the first half.
With MSU leading 9-7, Alabama went on a 13-0 run to gain control of the game. The
Crimson Tide led 16-9 with 9:11 left in the first half.
Back-to-back baskets by Abdul Ado brought MSU back to within six points of the lead at 22-16, but Jaden Shackelford hit a 3-point field goal as the Crimson Tide stretched the margin to 27-16.
Stewart led the Bulldogs with 15 points, while Smith earned his seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Molinar also scored in double figures with 11 points.
Jahvon Quinerly was the top scorer for Alabama with 19 points.
MSU (13-12, 7-9) travels to Texas A&M on Wednesday.