Iverson Molinar did his best to get the shot off.
The Mississippi State guard couldn’t make it behind the 3-point line on his last-second attempt in Wednesday’s first-round NIT game against Virginia, but it didn’t matter. Molinar’s tying try hit the near side of the rim near the backboard, falling back to the court below.
The Bulldogs had come up short for the final time this season.
Molinar’s miss sealed a 60-57 defeat for Mississippi State (18-16) against Virginia (20-13) on Wednesday in Charlottesville, Virginia.
MSU’s final game was well and truly characteristic of a disappointing year in Starkville. Once again, the Bulldogs were competitive against a solid team on the road, but once again, they couldn’t finish.
The loss could be the final straw for Howland, who has one year remaining on his contract despite a future growing cloudier with each successive loss. Howland wrapped up his seventh year at the helm with Wednesday’s loss.
But if it was his final game, the Bulldogs went down swinging for him.
“It doesn’t matter that all the rumors are going on,” Molinar said. “We just go out there and we play our hardest.”
Mississippi State scored just 19 points in the first half before finding its offensive groove in the second half, rallying from an eight-point halftime deficit to tie the contest within four minutes. They pulled ahead briefly, but Virginia leading scorer Jayden Gardner equalized, put the Cavaliers ahead and never let go.
Gardner scored 10 straight points for Virginia to put his team in front by eight, enough cushion for the Cavaliers to advance to take on North Texas in the second round.
“I think we did a good job in the first half, but he started heating up in the second half,” forward Tolu Smith said on defending the East Carolina transfer.
Back-to-back 3s by forward Garrison Brooks kept Mississippi State in the contest, pulling the Bulldogs within a point with 2:44 to go.
But Virginia’s Armaan Franklin buried a corner 3-pointer to push the lead back to four, keeping the Bulldogs at arm’s length.
MSU had a chance to tie things when Gardner missed a pair of free throws with 4.9 seconds remaining, but Virginia gave a foul to slow things down with 2.2 left and Molinar missed the final shot.
Molinar finished with 13 points, scoring in double digits in every single game for the Bulldogs. Forward Tolu Smith led with 16, and Brooks had 13 in his final college game.
But Mississippi State couldn’t overcome its poor early play, turning the ball over six times in less than six minutes. MSU had 14 turnovers overall to Virginia’s nine, a key disparity on a night where both teams shot 23 for 46.
“That’s really the difference in the game,” Howland said.
The Bulldogs didn’t lead until 15:15 remained in the game as they let the Cavaliers build up their advantage throughout the first half. Kihei Clark had five straight free throws for Virginia before Reece Beekman had six straight UVA points late in the period.
MSU responded, sinking each of its first six shots in the second half. A fastbreak layup by Molinar tied things with 16:07 to go before Smith finally put the Bulldogs ahead.
But Gardner tied the game at 36-all with free throws less than three minutes later before sinking four straight jump shots to put Virginia in front and fire up the crowd of 5,278 at John Paul Jones Arena.
He helped the Cavaliers win a game that would have been played at Humphrey Coliseum if not for ongoing renovations to the Bulldogs’ home arena. Asked about the switch, Smith said he was “very disappointed” to have to go on the road, where the Bulldogs finished 1-10 this season.
“A home-court advantage is a big advantage,” Smith said. “Having that intensity on a home floor and a home stage is better than anything else. Not being able to play at home, it was tough.”
“Tough” could well be applied to the entire season for Smith, who played in 21 games while battling injuries to both feet, COVID-19 and a dislocated kneecap.
Smith called it a “roller-coaster year” for himself and said the Bulldogs faced plenty of adversity, but he commended Howland for helping the team work through his and other injuries when asked about his head coach’s future with the program.
“I think Coach Howland did an amazing job handling that adversity,” Smith said. “I’m not trying to make excuses, but it’s hard for any coach at any program to go through that. I think Coach Howland did a great job, and personally I’d love for him to come back next year.”
But whether that will happen remains undecided after Mississippi State’s season ended with one more disappointment — although not without a fight.
“It was really a tough, hard-fought game,” Howland said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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