Cameron Matthews had won the tip.
To begin overtime Tuesday night at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, the Mississippi State sophomore forward outjumped Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe, the nation’s leading rebounder. Matthews tapped the basketball back toward his side of the court, with guard Shakeel Moore nearest to it.
Then Kentucky’s Davion Mintz leapt in front of Moore and grabbed the tip, giving the Wildcats possession to start the extra period.
Kentucky didn’t score on the play. The game didn’t even come down to one possession. But mistakes like those cost Mississippi State a chance for a signature win Tuesday in Lexington.
The Bulldogs (13-6, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) missed nine free throws, allowed 13 second-chance points and committed several key errors to let a 16-point comeback go for naught in an 82-74 overtime loss to the 12th-ranked Wildcats (16-4, 6-2 SEC).
“You’ve got to do the little things to win against a really good team and especially on the road,” Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said.
For an impressive stretch in the second half, the Bulldogs did just that. They fought their way back from down double digits, tying the game multiple times in the final minutes of regulation and sending it to overtime.
But that couldn’t overcome a stretch of poor play in the first half that got Mississippi State in trouble to begin with.
The Bulldogs shot just 29.6 percent from the field (Kentucky hit 53.6 percent of its shots), slipping into a 37-24 hole at the break. MSU made just 5 of 13 layups in the first half, missing six in a row at one point.
Guard Iverson Molinar, who led Mississippi State with a career-high 30 points, said his team lacked confidence in the first half. Molinar had just eight points at the break, and the Bulldogs had made just one 3-pointer in the game’s first 20 minutes.
Then the “swag” and confidence Mississippi State has shown at times this season made an abrupt comeback.
After facing their biggest deficit with 16:50 left in the game, trailing 45-29, the Bulldogs outscored the Wildcats 43-27 the rest of the way in regulation. Molinar scored 20 points in the second half, alternatively getting to the basket and hitting midrange jump shots depending on the defense he faced.
“I feel like in the second half, we came out there and we executed a lot better than the first half,” Molinar said. “Of course it stings that we came up short at the end, but I’m actually proud of the guys, and I’m proud of myself, too, that we came out there and we battled even though we didn’t have a good first half.”
The junior point guard tied things at the line with 22.2 seconds left, but it was Mississippi State’s last hurrah. Kentucky’s Kellan Grady got hot, sinking a pair of 3s in overtime to put the Wildcats ahead by six points with 1:13 to go. MSU’s Garrison Brooks turned over the ball, and the Bulldogs’ shot at their first win at Rupp Arena since 2009 had slipped out of their hands.
Still, Howland said his team’s effort was enough to remind viewers — and perhaps the Bulldogs themselves — what Mississippi State is capable of.
“There were times in this game when we were really good,” Howland said. “If you’re watching this game tonight, you’re saying ‘That team has the potential to be a tournament team, no question. They took Kentucky right to the wire and had a chance.”
But tournament teams have to win games like this at some point, and lucky for Mississippi State, plenty of chances are on the horizon. The Bulldogs will play at No. 13 Texas Tech (15-4, 5-2 SEC) at 5 p.m. Saturday with games against Arkansas, Tennessee, LSU and Alabama all coming up.
And Howland knows precisely what it will take to win some of those key contests.
“Mental toughness is everything, especially in an environment where it’s us against the world — like tonight,” he said. “We’re going to be in a lot more games like this.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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