STARKVILLE — Mississippi State’s free throw shooting problem appeared to be solved.
After inconsistent foul shooting in its first six games — four of which saw percentages of less than 57 percent from the line — the Bulldogs seemed like they’d shored up the issue.
In five games from Nov. 28 to Dec. 17, Mississippi State was lights out from the line. MSU made 81 of 108 free throws, exactly 75 percent — a rate that would rank 53rd in Division I, per KenPom.com.
But ever since, the Bulldogs’ woes at the charity stripe have returned with a vengeance.
MSU has gone 43 of 88 over its past four games, a 48.9 percent clip that sinks to 48.1 percent when considering only Southeastern Conference contests against Alabama, Tennessee and Ole Miss.
“We’re shooting under 50 percent in the SEC in three games,” Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said after Saturday’s win against the Rebels. “It’s going to haunt us. It’s going to haunt us.”
For the Bulldogs, it already has.
Against Drake on Dec. 20, the first game of the abysmal four-game stretch, Mississippi State went just 5 of 9 from the line.
MSU lost 58-52 — its first loss of the season — but had a chance at a tie or win trailing by just two points in the final 30 seconds.
The Bulldogs couldn’t have been expected to be perfect from the line, but had they been a little better, things could have turned out much differently.
That was the case again Dec. 28 in Mississippi State’s SEC opener against the Crimson Tide in front of a packed Humphrey Coliseum.
MSU was just 18 of 36 from the free throw line, making only half its attempts in a 78-67 loss. It would have taken a strong but far from perfect performance (80.6 percent) for the Bulldogs to make 11 more free throws and make up their final deficit.
Poor free throw shooting against Tennessee on Tuesday hardly mattered as MSU fell behind 16-0 from the start in an 87-53 blowout loss.
At his media session Thursday, Jans inquired about the Bulldogs’ foul shooting in Knoxville, and he didn’t like the answer: 7 for 17 (41.1 percent).
“That’s not good,” the first-year MSU coach said simply.
Jans is well aware of that, and he insisted he’s been trying to fix it. But none of the many approaches to shooting free throws has seemed to work for Mississippi State.
“Some people shoot a regular number every day,” Jans said. “Some shoot pressure free throws in practice, throughout the game. Some don’t talk about it. Some have an approach of trying to tweak people’s shot and technique. I’ve pretty much, at this point, tried everything under the sun, to be honest with you.”
It’s not just one player dragging the Bulldogs’ stats down, although star forward/center Tolu Smith has been far from great. Smith was an ugly 3 of 15 from the line against Alabama and, while he leads the team with nearly seven free throw attempts per game, he’s shooting just 55.3 percent from the line.
Forward D.J. Jeffries, who was only 1 of 6 at the stripe against Ole Miss, has been even worse at 52.5 percent.
If there’s anything good about Mississippi State’s performance at the line, it’s that the Bulldogs are at least getting there.
MSU attempts roughly one-third as many free throws as field goals, which ranks 127th — above average — in Division I.
But the Bulldogs are just No. 201 in proportion of points scored at the line, a clear sign of their struggles making free throws.
Flip the switch, and there are plenty of points to be gained.
Of course, that’s easier said than done.
“That would be a big shot in the arm for us, because we’re getting to the line,” Jans said. “That’s the positive — we’ve been really getting to the line quite a bit the last few games, and now we’ve just got to figure out a way to convert.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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