STARKVILLE – The Bulldogs had hope again, if only for a few seconds.
Saniyah King’s quick bucket was followed by a quick press for a jump ball, leading to a quick Destiney McPhaul bucket to pull MSU to within five points in the final minutes. A steal by Chandler Prater on the next possession got the crowd going again, and in a flash, the ball was in the hands of Jaylah Lampley for a corner three-point shot.
The real dagger didn’t come from a Vanderbilt stop or bucket, or even a miss by MSU, but from the piercing shriek of the referee’s whistle to call the freshman guard out of bounds by a matter of millimeters.
The Commodores inbounded, escaped the press and ran out the clock for an 89-84 victory. The fifth-ranked, still undefeated Vandy squad believed they had the game wrapped up on several occasions: A key charging foul drawn late in the game, a triple from Mikayla Blakes to cap a remarkable 38-point outing, and what might have made the real difference in the game, a 14-2 run over the final 2:30 of the third quarter to take a 66-55 lead.
The Commodores did what Top-5 teams do to pull out a clutch road win, but the Bulldogs kept fighting until the end.
“You’re talking about a team that if they’d won at Texas Tech and beaten Vanderbilt, you’ve got a Top-25 team right here,” head coach Sam Purcell said in praise of his team after the loss, marking four defeats in a row, all against Top-25 teams. “Two games away from one hell of a season. I’ve got to put it in perspective, but at the same time, we didn’t win those games. You can clap and all, but I know this group is not going to clap, and they can’t fold. ‘Bend, don’t break,’ that’s my message to this team.”
The Bulldogs (14-5, 1-4 SEC) are in the middle of a daunting stretch of games. Seven consecutive matchups with ranked opponents after starting SEC play with a home win over Auburn have seen MSU falter after a strong closeout to nonconference play.
Purcell spoke earlier in the week about the game of percentages that goes into beating one of the best in the nation, and in particular, the demand for focus in applying the scouting and preparation in real time when you’re in the thick of it. As he put it, the team has no “bad losses” this season, but they must level up to get to the good wins.
“Since Dec. 1, I couldn’t be more proud to be their coach. I thought we’ve been great, getting better. I’ve seen it, but in these Top-25 matchups, there’s got to be that 40% where we’re locked in on the scouts, reading the defense,” he said. “They trapped? Play off of it. They switch? Play off of it. We throw in the posts, make those reads, and we didn’t. It’s a compound thing, it’s going to hurt for all of us… We’re all in this together. To give up 30 was the game breaker in a Top-5 opponent at home.”
Fine margins
The Commodores came to and will leave Starkville as one of the few remaining unbeatens in college basketball. Anyone who follows the sport understands the offensive power the team packs, notably in sophomore guard Blakes, who was lethal against the Bulldogs on Thursday.
In the week leading up to the game, though, Purcell was focused on the players who round the team out into what he sees as a Final Four caliber squad.
“(National media) always talks about everybody else, but to me, Sacha Washington is the glue piece for them to make a hell of a run this year,” he said. “It’s her body language, I’ve never seen that kid get emotional. Some things didn’t go well, but she doesn’t pout, she stays strong. To go 4-for-4 in a five-point game, those buckets are huge, and along with seven rebounds, four offensive. It’s just what she’s willing to do for her team, and that’s why they’re on one hell of a run right now.”
Washington’s nine points were indeed crucial for Vandy, particularly coming in the second half as her team pulled away, but her work down low and on the boards made a real difference in a close contest.
The Bulldogs finished 14-23 on layups, a frustrating statistic that has been a talking point for Purcell all season. The 42-32 advantage in paint points and 13-6 advantage on second-chance points could have made a bigger difference for the Bulldogs had they converted on more of their chances to score from close range.
Another notable difference on the scoresheet that made all the difference was the final 2:30 of the third quarter, a 14-2 run that saw the visitors overturn a narrow Bulldog lead and pull out in front for the last lead change of the game. Each of the past four losses has featured a similar trend from MSU, falling behind in a flash to start a game of catchup for the rest of the contest. In the last three losses, that stretch came in the first half, but on Thursday, it came at the worst possible time as the Bulldogs scrapped their way into the final frame of action.
It’s those runs, those fine margins, that has made a key difference between MSU being a young team with a lot of promise and a team that could be ranked in the Top 25 themselves and looking at a high-seed resume ahead of March Madness.
“I told them, ‘It’s time. When you play so many Top 25 teams and you’re young, we can make an excuse about (being) young, but bullshit. Find out it’s time,’” Purcell said. “It’s time to keep coming in the locker room and having these talks, it’s time to seize the moment. We’re only two or three plays away from doing it, but they better show up for practice, and I know we are.”
MSU returns to the floor at The Hump to face No. 7 Kentucky at 2 p.m. Sunday. It will be the team’s fifth consecutive game against the Top-25 program, followed by road trips to face No. 21 Alabama and No. 20 Tennessee the following week.
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