STARKVILLE – Humphrey Coliseum hosted overtime basketball for the second time this week on Friday, but while Monday was an overtime period that sparked life in the crowd, this time around fell a bit flat.

Mississippi State held a narrow advantage over SMU throughout the second half of action, but the Mustangs closed in on their hosts and forced an extra five minutes of basketball with a bucket and a stop in the final seconds of regulation.

The Bulldogs, now 3-4 on the season, were in a good position to close out. They had a 61-52 lead with about seven minutes to play, but failed to pull away with the Mustangs hitting key shots. The visitors forced overtime and pulled away, improving their record to 8-0 while MSU fans filed out of the building.

“I’m not taking any credit away from SMU, but it got away from us,” head coach Chris Jans said. He cut right to the point in his post-game press conference in diagnosing the closing minutes, and echoed what he had just told his team in the locker room.

“As best of my ability, I tell my guys the truth every single day, good, bad, ugly… doesn’t matter. That’s what I told them after the game: We did this to ourselves. We had this game in the balance, played well enough to win, had some great stretches, and the game changed.”

Jans discussed a number of different factors in the loss. The inconsistent offense down the stretch was one topic, failing to find a rhythm for his shooters was another line of questioning, but what he focused on was his team’s lack of edge. He has consistently talked about the team overcoming newness and finding its identity, and a key next step in his eyes is finding the right competitive edge to overcome the moments of adversity.

“Down the stretch, we just didn’t come up with enough balls in the air, balls on the ground, hit first, floor fist,” he said. “When you’re playing at this level against other teams that are trying to win as much as you are, you got to figure out a way to make the plays. We’ve got some awesome kids on our team. I love being around them, coaching them, but we’ve got to contnue to work on our playing personality being a little more edgier, more whatever I’ve gotta do to get it done.”

The Bulldogs were led in scoring by guards Jayden Epps, 21 points, and Ja’Borri McGhee, 17, with star scorer Josh Hubbard unable to find a rhythm. He scored 16 in the contest, but shot just 5-19 from the floor for his second-worst scoring performance of the season.

Despite Hubbard’s form, the team as a whole looked like it was putting together its best game of the season for most of the contest, but faded in the final minutes. When asked of his opinion, Epps quickly shut down that sort of sentiment.

“I’ve seen this team all summer, as long as I’ve been here, and I know what we’re capable of,” Epps said. “Maybe (the media) can say it’s the best they’ve seen us play, but I’ve seen us way better. I know way better, and I know we’re capable of way more.”

MSU is back in action on Wednesday against Georgia Tech in Atlanta for the SEC/ACC challenge. The Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets will tip off at 8:15 p.m. on the ACC Network channel.