STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State’s men’s basketball team has followed each step forward with a step in the opposite direction.
That was the case Saturday in a 61-41 loss at Arkansas in which MSU scored nine first-half points.
For a team that had won four if its past six games, the stumble was disheartening.
“It was like we took a big step back after we had been going forward,” said forward Roquez Johnson, the Bulldogs’ second-leading scorer at 10.2 points per game. “The last seven games we had been getting better and better, but in this game it felt like we fell in a hole and we couldn’t dig out.”
For MSU (11-12, 4-6 Southeastern Conference), the march forward could begin again at 8 tonight when it plays host to Alabama (14-9, 4-6). In addition to a win, the Bulldogs are seeking something they’ve been unable to find this season.
“Consistency,” MSU coach Rick Ray said. “That’s what we have to establish. Coming off a week where we were successful on road at Tennessee, we went to Arkansas and didn’t give ourselves a chance by our performance in the first half. We fueled their fast break by committing 14 turnovers in the first half, only had one assist. Their pressure got to us.”
MSU’s past two games are a microcosm of the season. Against Tennessee, the Bulldogs were solid on both ends of the court and led throughout en route to a 71-65 win, Ray’s first in the month of February in his three-year MSU tenure. Four days later at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas, MSU was 2 of 21 from the field in the first half and trailed by 22 points at halftime. The swing from game to game has MSU’s players as befuddled as Ray.
“All the guys are upset with how we played, especially in the first half,” Johnson said. “I think that’s the worst we’ve played all year. Just have to get past that game.”
After starting the season with a 5-0 run in November, MSU lost nine of its next 11 games. The Bulldogs have hovered around the .500 mark for the balance of the SEC season. But the 4-2 stretch that included wins against LSU, Vanderbilt, Auburn, and Tennessee had MSU trending in the right direction before the trip to Fayetteville.
“We didn’t share the basketball,” Ray said. “Arkansas does a really good job of using their pressure to put you in one-on-one, individual situations that get you out of rhythm. They did that and we turned the basketball over too much.”
Arkansas’ defensive intensity forced MSU’s worst offensive game of the season. After scoring 47 points in three games earlier this year, MSU again fell short of 50. Junior forward Gavin Ware (16 points, eight rebounds) was the only starter to reach double figures. MSU’s other four starters were 4 of 21 from the field.
Perhaps no Bulldog embodies MSU’s boom-or-bust potential quite like junior guard Fred Thomas, the team’s leading scorer (10.4 ppg.).
“We’ve told Fred to pick a number,” Ray said after MSU’s win against LSU on Jan. 31. “Doesn’t matter what it is, but we need him to be consistent. He goes out and gets 18, then he gets zero the next game. We can’t have that.”
In MSU’s last three losses — Georgia at home, at Ole Miss, and at Arkansas — Thomas has averaged five points per game, including a scoreless performance on 0-for-6 shooting at Ole Miss.
In MSU’s last four wins, the junior from Jackson has scored in double figures four times and is averaging 14.6 ppg.
“He always plays great in practice,” MSU point guard I.J. Ready said. “He knows he has to carry it over into the game. When Fred plays well, the whole team plays well.”
For Ray, whose team has broken a pair of unwanted streaks in the past month, including a 16-game SEC losing skid and a 22-game road losing streak, the chance to play host to Alabama is a perfect opportunity.
“We all just need to take a deep breath and calm down,” Ray said. “You want to get that sour taste out of your mouth due to that loss, and we have that chance. The problem is Alabama is a very difficult team to prepare for. They are very athletic, run, and jump very well, but they have skill as well.”
In Alabama, MSU will face an opponent that still harbors postseason hopes. Guard Levi Randolph leads Alabama in scoring (14.9 ppg.), assists (2.7), and steals (1.3).
“I think he is one of the most skilled players in the league,” Ray said of the 6-foot-5, 208-pound Randolph. “A lot of guys have the skill but lack a big-time SEC body. He has both.”
Ultimately, MSU’s opponent tonight might not be Alabama. Instead, inconsistency could be the Bulldogs biggest hurdle as it fights to reach .500 again.
“Our guys have been pretty resilient,” Ray said. “They’ve really carried a good attitude no matter what. I’ve had some guys come in and watch practice, coaches I have known a long time during my career, and they all tell me that it’s hard to tell we are having a losing season or we just had a bad loss. That says a lot about our effort in practice. I give our guys credit for putting on their hard hats and practicing every single day.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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