STARKVILLE — Another late-game situation, another missed opportunity for the Mississippi State University men’s basketball program.
The result was a a fourth-straight loss that damaged the Bulldogs’ push for a bid to the NCAA tournament.
Following a 73-64 loss to the No. 1 University of Kentucky, MSU coach Rick Stansbury spent several minutes explaining how good Kentucky’s offensive skill.
With 1 minute, 27 seconds left in the game and Kentucky (27-1, 13-0 Southeastern Conference) leading 68-64, MSU needed a stop. The Bulldogs (19-9, 6-7) sank back in a 2-3 zone defense and watched senior guard Darius Miller drain a 3-pointer that helped ensure the Wildcats’ fourth straight victory in the series.
In a way, MSU had no choice but to try something else Stansbury said was typically has been effective.
“We kept them at bay with the zone,” said Stansbury, whose team lost its fourth game in a row. “We had to change our defense some, (and) it worked sometimes but sometimes we got beat.”
The sequence defined MSU’s first four-game losing streak since 2006. After losing freshman swingman Rodney Hood to an apparent knee injury late in the first half, MSU was unable to hold on to a 13-point halftime lead, couldn’t make the plays down the stretch to close a tight game, and then surrendered a late game-winning basket due to its lack of depth and concerns about a defensive breakdown.
“You just have to pick your poison,” Stansbury said of how to defend the Wildcats. “As I have said, they do not beat you shooting the ball consistently. They beat you dunking around that rim.”
However, Kentucky’s ability to hit perimeter shots, including three by Miller in the final eight minutes, turned the tide Tuesday night at Humphrey Coliseum.
“I just knew we were all going to have to make plays,” Miller said. The 6-foot-8 senior scored 12 points in the second half off the bench.
“Darius Miller is the fiber that holds that team together,” Stansbury said. “He is the key to them, and was the total difference in the game tonight.”
Kentucky coach John Calipari even took Miller out of the game because he refused to shoot the basketball, which is a no-no when you’re shooting 43.2 percent from 3-point range.
“My coach never had to take me out because I didn’t shoot,” Calipari said. “He passed up a shot and I said, ‘You’re out.’ Then he went back in and he’s bombing balls in. You’re the guy to this team. They count on you to make these shots.”
Stansbury pointed to another “magnified” moment when Miller didn’t make a 3-pointer but referee Teddy Valentine whistled Jalen Steele for a foul to the objection of Stansbury and most of the 10,213 fans at Humphrey Coliseum.
Valentine ruled Steele had tapped Miller’s shooting elbow on the way up and gave the Kentucky guard three free throws he converted.
“We’d gotten the rebound on that shot — huge play with us up seven at that point in the game,” Stansbury said. “Now it’s a four-point game.”
Kentucky ran its record to 72-1 under Calipari when holding opponents to 67 points or fewer. Stansbury said the loss was a result of a lack of executing shots down the stretch. The Bulldogs went 3-for-9 from the field in the final eight minutes.
Calipari, who has won five straight games against Stansbury dating back to his days as coach at the University of Memphis, agreed.
“At the end there, it got away from them,” Calipari said. “We did some stuff down the stretch (and) we had a couple of good blocks and defensive stops.”
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