TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Everything seemed to be adding up to a Mississippi State upset Wednesday night at Coleman Coliseum.
The Bulldogs’ defense looked solid. They were forcing Alabama into miss after miss. MSU, meanwhile, looked as productive on offense as it ever had.
But it didn’t last.
The second-ranked Crimson Tide (18-2, 8-0 Southeastern Conference) roared past the Bulldogs (12-8, 1-7 SEC) in the second half in a 66-63 win in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Alabama didn’t lead until there were just 9 minutes and 19 seconds to play, but the Tide seized the lead for good with 6:39 left. The home team led by as many as eight points with 2:15 to go.
Mississippi State rallied late and had a last-second look to tie the game, but Shakeel Moore’s 3-pointer was blocked, and Eric Reed’s two-point heave at the buzzer was well offline.
“We knew we’d have to play well, and we did for a long time,” MSU coach Chris Jans said. “But we also knew they weren’t going to go away.”
The Bulldogs lost their fifth straight game, none of which have looked all that bad by the final scoreline. But MSU has had plenty of chances to rack up wins and has been unable to do so.
And as Jans said postgame, being close doesn’t count for anything when all is said and done.
“Nobody remembers what the score was,” Jans said. “They remember who won and who lost, and that’s what we’re going to remember.”
Burned in the Bulldogs’ memories will be a promising start that soon faded away amid the roar of the home crowd.
Mississippi State led by as many as 11 points midway through the second half, but Alabama got within three points before the break. MSU extended its lead, but a triple by Dom Welch made it a seven-point game at halftime.
Alabama went on a 15-2 run early in the second half, with a 3 by Rylan Griffen putting the Crimson Tide in the lead for the first time. The first of two alley-oops to Noah Clowney put Alabama up for good, kick-starting a 10-2 run.
Mississippi State made its own late charge. Dashawn Davis made a pair of free throws, Cameron Matthews threw down a dunk, and Tolu Smith got to the rim for a layup.
But after a missed 3-pointer by Alabama’s Mark Sears with 21 seconds left, the Bulldogs couldn’t get a clean look at a tying shot.
For the second straight game, Jans chose not to call timeout to allow his opponent to set its defense, but Mississippi State couldn’t convert either time.
“In hindsight, yeah, I get it: ‘Coach should have called timeout,’” Jans said. “My experience has been that most teams that I’ve coached have been better off when we haven’t.”
Smith led MSU with 15 points, and Davis added 14. Mississippi State shot 56.7 percent in the first half but only 34.6 percent in the second.
Alabama, by contrast, went only 5 of 28 (17.9 percent) from deep in the game.
But the Tide were aided by going 13 of 15 from the foul line in the second half alone, getting into the bonus before eight minutes had even elapsed.
The Bulldogs took clear objection to several of the fouls called of them, a few of which appeared suspect.
“I’m not going to lie: There were some crazy calls out there,” Smith said. “It’s going to happen like that on the road.
“I won’t say it affected the game; it did, but I don’t think it affected us defensively as much as people think.”
Alabama helped itself on the offensive glass, posting 12 offensive rebounds to Mississippi State’s eight.
The Tide shot a mediocre 40.7 percent in the second half, but it was enough to overcome the Bulldogs’ early efforts.
“If we play like that for 40 minutes in every game, we’ll be good,” Smith promised.
But that hasn’t been the case for a while, and there’s little reason to expect it to turn on a dime with another top team on the schedule.
The Bulldogs will host No. 11 TCU (16-4, 5-3 SEC) at 3 p.m. Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, looking to put their losing streak behind them.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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