STARKVILLE – Mississippi State men’s basketball was dealt another heavy SEC loss at home against No. 21 Arkansas on Saturday, putting the team under .500 for the first time since December. The Razorbacks won behind a prolific offensive display from Darius Acuff Jr., Meleek Thomas and Trevon Brazile, shooting 52.2% as a team in an 88-68 victory at Humphrey Coliseum.
The Bulldogs (11-12, 3-7 SEC) got off to a positive start on offense with guard Josh Hubbard and forward Achor Achor getting early shots to fall in the mid-range and post areas. There looked to be a positive balance to the Arkansas offense through the first few minutes, but the Razorbacks flipped the switch to take a big lead by the midpoint of the first half.
Like many games before in conference play, the Bulldog defense struggled over a short but impactful run that saw their opponents jump out in front.
“Off the top of my head, and it sounds trite and boring, but point of attack defense,” head coach Chris Jans said when asked about where the team struggled. “We’re not doing a good enough job on a consistent basis with old-fashioned guarding the basketball. Too many times the offense is getting where they want to go. They’re getting us in rotation, where the defense is built not to be in rotation, and not providing as much resistance that’s needed to keep the offense from where they’re trying to get.”
The Razorbacks scored 50 points in the pain, a number the Bulldogs weren’t too far off of matching themselves, but it was a telling statistic for a team that just couldn’t get stops to get back into the game.
Jans offered a look into the defensive play in his postgame press conference, and in particular, the team’s use of “junk” defense. He explained that their aim was to mix up their zone and man-marking looks to confuse Arkansas shooters, and while they did manage to get some stops out of it they weren’t able to continue adjusting once the Razorbacks got into a rhythm. Paired with MSU’s shooting struggles, the game just got out of hand.
“We played a lot of junk defense, more than I’ve ever played in one game in my entire life that I can remember,” Jans said. “Just trying to get them out of rhythm, get guys to shoot shots where they’re so open they feel obligated to shoot it. We got some of those and rebounded them, but then they started doing a better job and cutting into the lane, breaking the defense down. Got some dunks and got behind the defense that way too.”
The contest started to slip away from MSU early in the first half as the Razorbacks went on a 20-2 run over the course of six minutes, and though the Bulldogs were able to shoot their way back into the game a bit, another quick run of preventable baskets before the halftime buzzer saw the Razorbacks turn a seven point game into a 15 point game in the blink of an eye.
“I thought the end of the first half, we had gotten down to double digits and fought back a bit, kind of got the game in a manageable area,” Jans said, “and then we went down (five more) before halftime and I thought that was a big deal.”
Achor pointed to the team’s defensive struggles as a reason for the offense slowing down at times as well.
“This is how it is nowadays. You know how it goes, defense feeds the offense, and I feel like we’re not getting enough stops at all, as y’all can see,” he said in a blunt evaluation of the team’s struggles.
He looked back to the first losses in SEC play, where big runs by Kentucky and Alabama started to shift the momentum before halftime, and how those defensive struggles bled into the second half performance.
“The first half, defensively, was really sound, and then the second half, the defense falls off, then the offense falls off. This is the energy of the ball. I hope that in these eight games or so, we can come together with the team and figure it out, make a push. I believe we can do it. I know we can do it.”
MSU was already in trouble in terms of postseason chances, but if the team doesn’t start to pick up some wins, it’ll likely miss out on the NIT as well as the NCAA Tournament.
“We’ve gotta find a way to keep our practice level required, instill confidence in them, something we try to do every day,” Jans said. “I think we played better in some of the wins we’ve had in our league, at home or on the road, and we’ve just got to keep them together. Keep fighting, scratching, clawing, and I’m confident that we will.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
