TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It should have been easy.
Mississippi State forward D.J. Jeffries cut from the left wing toward the basket, trailing two Alabama defenders behind him. Jeffries rose to the hoop for a two-handed dunk, but he missed, and the basketball bounced high off the rim at Coleman Coliseum.
Crimson Tide point guard Jahvon Quinerly collected it and casually tossed it ahead to teammate Darius Miles, who brought the ball down for a one-handed slam and brought the house down.
That was the difference Wednesday as Mississippi State (14-11, 5-7 Southeastern Conference) collapsed down the stretch once again in an 80-75 loss to No. 25 Alabama (17-9, 7-6 SEC).
“We’ve just got to be able to finish games,” guard Iverson Molinar said.
Things that should have been simple remained difficult, and Mississippi State remains well outside of the NCAA tournament picture with its sixth loss in seven games.
The Bulldogs missed 11 consecutive shots as Alabama rattled off an 18-2 run that flipped Wednesday’s game in Tuscaloosa on its head. Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats was ejected with 8:37 to go, and his second technical foul gave Mississippi State a 60-57 lead.
But Oats’s ouster seemed to change things. Alabama had struggled to take control all night — until its head coach walked slowly into the tunnel in the arena’s southwest corner and disappeared out of sight.
The Crimson Tide briefly looked shell shocked as MSU’s Andersson García made two straight baskets to put the Bulldogs ahead by seven, their largest lead of the night. But Alabama rattled off five straight points and tied the game with 6:02 left on a pair of Charles Bediako free throws.
The Tide took the lead for good on a second-chance layup by JD Davison, who seized a missed 3 by Quinerly and tossed it in while drawing a foul. His three-point play started an 11-0 Alabama run.
Meanwhile, Mississippi State went ice cold once again. The Bulldogs missed three straight 3s after Davison’s big play and misfired on six triples amid the 11-shot skid.
“We had a number of open looks down the stretch — just couldn’t make them,” coach Ben Howland said.
It was the wrong time for MSU to go cold from deep after 3-point shooting kept the visitors in the game early in the second half. The Bulldogs hit their first six attempts from deep to begin the period, including three by freshman guard Cam Carter.
Molinar said Mississippi State had no problem continuing to take 3s late in the game, even though they weren’t falling.
“We should have made them,” he said. “I feel like at the end of the day, we’ve got to have confidence in ourselves, and we’ve got to keep shooting them.”
Carter showed that confidence in his first career start, scoring a career-high 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting, adding three assists and two rebounds in his first career start. He tied Jeffries in scoring, while Molinar led with 22 points on just 7-of-20 shooting from the field.
Big man Tolu Smith fouled out with 6:02 to go after a disappointing night. Smith went just 2 for 6 and scored only four points in his fourth consecutive game since returning from a partially dislocated knee, tying for the longest stretch for which he’s been available all season.
Howland said Smith tweaked his knee in practice Tuesday but felt better Wednesday, though it didn’t translate to strong play in the game.
“It was tough for us to not have Tolu because of the foul situation,” Howland said. “That hurt us.”
Mississippi State finished shooting just 36.1 percent from the field despite going an efficient 17 of 19 at the foul line. Alabama was cold from 3, making just 6 of 30 attempts, but the Tide shot 44.4 percent overall.
Quinerly led Alabama with 21 points and eight assists, while Bediako scored 15 points. Miles and Jaden Shackelford had 12 points apiece.
The Tide helped further bury a Mississippi State team already projected to be far outside the NCAA tournament field. Alabama won for the sixth time in its past nine games, while MSU has won just twice in that span.
“I’m just, No. 1, really proud of our guys’ effort tonight,” Howland said. “I thought our guys played incredibly hard against one of the better teams in the country.”
The Bulldogs came up short in another opportunity for a Quadrant 1 win and likely have a maximum of two remaining: March 2 against No. 2 Auburn and March 5 at Texas A&M. They will play Missouri twice in the next three days: at 6 p.m. Friday in Starkville and at 7 p.m. Sunday in Columbia, Missouri.
And Howland knows what it will take to return Mississippi State to the NCAA tournament after another missed opportunity Wednesday.
“We’re going to have to obviously really do well at the conference tournament at the end, but we’ve got to win a game,” he said. “Once we win a game, we have to win another game.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
