STARKVILLE — The opponent changes, but the results continue to stay the same for the Mississippi State men’s basketball team.
Two days after leading archrival Ole Miss for most of the game before falling in the end, MSU repeated that scenario Saturday against No. 18 Arkansas. Despite leading at halftime and for much of the second half, MSU endured a six-minute scoreless stretch in crunch time and never recovered in a 65-61 loss at Humphrey Coliseum.
“We always have a stretch where we struggle to score the basketball,” said MSU coach Rick Ray, whose team fell to 12-15 and 5-9 in the Southeastern Conference. “That happens in college basketball, but we have to find ways to figure out how to win games like this.”
After two free throws by junior guard Craig Sword, MSU led 54-52 with 6 minutes, 30 seconds to go. The Bulldogs didn’t score again until a Sword 3-pointer with 33 seconds left, but by then it was too late. Arkansas outscored MSU 8-0 in that stretch and turned a two-point deficit into a six-point lead in the final minute.
The loss MSU’s fourth in its past five games, a run that started with a 61-41 loss to Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, two weeks ago. In that game, MSU scored only nine points in the first half and never challenged Arkansas. The Bulldogs were better in the rematch, but they couldn’t overcome the offensive lull.
“We just have to learn how to close out games,” Sword said. “We have to stop turning the ball over and make shots. It sounds simple, but for whatever reason we can’t do it.”
The turnovers were a problem for the Bulldogs. Despite leading 33-32 at halftime, MSU committed 11 giveaways in the first 20 minutes to help Arkansas stay within striking distance. The Razorbacks shot 34 percent from the field in the first half.
In the second half, MSU committed 12 more turnovers, a telling statistic to Ray.
“It boils down to two things,” Ray said. “First of all, our inability to protect the basketball is absolutely killing us. We gave them 23 points off turnovers, just gave them 23 points. You can’t do that and expect to win close basketball games.
“The second thing was the fact we couldn’t get a defensive rebound. I think there was one possession in the second half where Arkansas got four looks at the basket because we couldn’t grab a rebound. That’s how you lose close games.”
The miscues piled up for MSU, especially down the stretch. In the six-minute scoreless streak, the Bulldogs turned the ball over five times, including a steal by guard Anton Beard with Arkansas protecting a 61-59 lead with 12 seconds left. Beard and teammate Michael Qualls hit two free throws in the final 12 seconds to seal the deal.
“It was exactly what I expected, a hard-fought game,” said Arkansas coach Mike Anderson, whose team improved to 22-5 and 11-3. “They came out and attacked us early. Look at the field goal percentages, they defended us very well. But we turned them over, especially in the second half. We found a way to escape, and that’s what you have to do in this league.”
The loss continued a string of disappointments for the Bulldogs, who have lost three-straight home games by six points or less. In conference play, the Bulldogs have lost six games by six points or less. MSU is 3-6 in those games.
For a while, it looked as if Ray, in his third season as MSU’s coach, would get his first win against a ranked opponent. The Bulldogs led by as many as eight points, 23-15, with a little more than seven minutes to go in the first half. Ultimately, though, turnovers were MSU’s downfall. The absence of starting point guard I.J. Ready, who missed the game after sustaining an ankle injury Thursday night in the loss to Ole Miss, proved to be costly. Senior Trivante Bloodman played 39 minutes and had two points in place of Ready.
“I thought (Ready) was going to come in,” Sword said. “I didn’t know he wasn’t going to play. It was different without him, but we practice without players all the time. That wasn’t the reason we lost.”
Sword was 5 of 12 from the field and had a team-high 15 points.
Arkansas had four players in double figures, led by Rashad Madden’s 16. All-SEC forward Bobby Portis added 13 and a team-leading nine rebounds, while Qualls had 14 and Beard added 11.
To Qualls, the MSU team that showed up Saturday was a much different outfit than the one the Razorbacks beat at home.
“They wanted it,” Qualls said. “They came out aggressive and physical. They turned it into more of a game than it should have been. They are a good team and teams in the SEC tournament better watch out. They can make a run.”
Anderson, who has his team in the mix for an NCAA tournament berth, agreed.
“It’s a team that is going to be dangerous down the stretch,” Anderson said. “They won on the road at Tennessee, they beat LSU. In our league, you can’t look at RPI. If you come to play here, you better come with it.”
Other than Sword’s free throws at the 6:30 mark, the Bulldogs didn’t make a field goal for eight minutes, turning a nip-and-tuck affair into a game of catch-up.
“When we’re up in close games, we tend to get complacent,” said MSU guard Travis Daniels, who had 11 points. “We have got to stay attentive in timeouts because miscommunication killed us.”
Anderson, who won for the second-straight year in Humphrey Coliseum, felt his team made key adjustments to force MSU’s late offensive collapse.
“We changed to a zone, and that worked for us,” Anderson said. “We wanted to make them shoot the long jumpers and we wanted to keep (Gavin Ware) from posting up. Our guys did a really good job of identifying shooters and our rim protection was very good.”
Junior forward Gavin Ware added 13 points and a team-high nine points for MSU.
With a visit from No. 1 Kentucky looming Wednesday night, Ray watched his team miss an opportunity for a marquee victory once again. Although composed, Ray admits the frustration is mounting.
“It’s a fine line and a catch-22 situation,” Ray said. “You tell your guys you’re proud of the way they competed, but, really, I’m still upset we lost. At the end of the day, if we take care of the ball and get rebounds, we win the game.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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