Ben Howland was right.
Monday afternoon, the fifth-year Mississippi State men’s basketball coach told reporters his team had “no chance” against No. 15 Kentucky if the Bulldogs didn’t play a complete 40 minutes.
Well, they didn’t.
MSU started slow for the fourth straight contest, trailing the Wildcats by eight at halftime Tuesday at Rupp Arena. In previous contests, the slow starts hadn’t been an issue, as the Bulldogs (14-8, 5-4 SEC) shot a combined 59 percent in second halves in their five SEC wins. Against UK (17-5, 7-2), MSU shot 41 percent after halftime en route to a 80-72 loss.
After the defeat, the Bulldogs had their five-game SEC winning streak snapped and have now lost 14 straight contests to the Wildcats.
MSU, which hasn’t beaten a ranked team on the road since 2010, shot 31 percent in the first half and found itself staring at a 31-23 deficit at the break.
“We just had a hard time scoring, and especially scoring around the basket,” Howland said postgame.
Following a game in which he scored a career-high 20 points, D.J. Stewart scored 10 of his 15 points in the first half. The Bulldogs missed a few open looks from long range early and shot 2 of 7 from beyond the arc in the half. MSU limited Kentucky to one 3-pointer in the first half, but the Wildcats converted 43.8 percent of their shots.
UK opened a 14-point lead with 10 minutes remaining, but the Bulldogs trimmed the lead to six after Tyson Carter drilled a 3-pointer with 4:30 left to play. Alas, Kentucky re-took a double-digit lead, sealing the win.
Despite not making a single 3-pointer in the second half, the Wildcats cashed in at the charity stripe, converting 31 of 35 free throws, including 16-of-16 in the final 2:20. Nick Richards was a handful all night for the visitors, scoring a game-high 27 points on 7 of 10 shooting and 13 of 15 free throws. The forward also grabbed 11 rebounds for a double-double.
“He’s one of the dominant bigs in all of college basketball,” Howland said.
Immanuel Quickley was only 3 of 11 from the floor but converted 14 straight free throws en route to scoring 21 points.
Robert Woodard II contributed 16 points on a 6-of-10 shooting effort, but SEC Player of the Year Candidate Reggie Perry had his worst offensive effort in conference play, only converting 4 of 16 field goals for 14 points. Junior point guard Nick Weatherspoon also had an off night, going 2 of 11 and scoring nine points in the loss.
The Bulldogs shot 5 of 16 from beyond the arc and 36.8 percent from the floor. Transition defense continues to be a problem as well, as Kentucky scored 25 fastbreak points.
MSU is back in action at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against Vanderbilt.
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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