Struggles continue for Purcell’s Bulldogs
Mississippi State had a tremendous opportunity coming into this week after reeling off three-straight wins.
Instead, the Bulldogs dropped two eggs on the road against Ole Miss and Georgia.
After falling behind by double digits in the first quarter to Ole Miss, State had another terrible opening frame against Georgia. Like the game against the rival Rebels, MSU never got close than that first quarter deficit and put together one of the worst offensive performances in a decade for a 62-34.
Against a Georgia team below .500 in league play, MSU shot 12-of-45 (27%) from the field and 2-of-15 (13%) from the 3-point line. State also turned the basketball over 27 times, which was the most since also turning it over 27 times against Kentucky in 2015. That was a game that went to two overtimes, however.
“In that matchup (zone), they're able to do multiple things and they played great scouting report defense and they made it ugly,” Mississippi State coach Sam Purcell said. “I told them that we had to be tough and we had to win ugly. We had to have a mindset that this game was going to be 56-50, but obviously our lack of offense allowed them easy transition offense and that was the difference in the score.”
The 34 points were the lowest scoring output for State in a game since dropping 33 points against Texas A&M in 2013. MSU never scored more than 11 points in a quarter and had just five points in the first frame and seven in the fourth.
The turnovers were a huge part of the issue. State had nine in the first quarter and couldn't stop throwing the ball away as Georgia scored 24 points off of those 27 turnovers. The home standing Bulldogs turned it over a few times as well with 21 of those, but MSU scored just five points from those.
State was in position in the rebounding column losing just 33-32, but the turnovers were too much to overcome.
No one scored in double digits as Ahlana Smith led the team with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting. Jessika Carter managed just eight points and two rebounds while turning the ball over an incredible nine times. Jerkaila Jordan had just two points on 0-of-9 with 0-of-5 shooting from deep. Jordan had eight rebounds and four assists but has now gone 1-for-18 in the last two games shooting.
“Jerkaila Jordan doesn't want to lose,” Purcell said. “We start off slow and she's just trying to find a way to get the ball. With that, she's exerting so much energy and she might be playing a
little fast. It's all about effort. She's got to have help from her teammates. We've got to look in the mirror and be real with ourselves.”
The Bulldogs took a couple of steps forward but are now stepping back the last two games. State fell to 15-7 for the year and 4-5 in Southeastern Conference play with tough games still to come.
The good news could be that MSU has a week off to prepare
for Tennessee next Monday night at 6 p.m. With a team that's steadily dropping out of consideration for the NCAA Tournament, that week off needs to be a productive one as some big wins are going to have to come down the stretch.
“It starts in practice,” Purcell
said. “We've got to turn it up and we've got to get our mojo back. You don't just walk in the SEC and beat somebody.you've got to be tough and we've got to get tougher. It starts with me as the coach. I've got to change the practices and we've got to bring the intensity.”