It was a bad start to the week for Mississippi State basketball, going on the road to face Florida in a regular-season matchup for the men’s team and a first-round exit for the women’s team at the SEC Tournament.
For head coach Chris Jans’ men’s team, the March Madness dream has been over for some time, but Sam Purcell’s women’s team left Starkville with hopes of boosting their tournament resume. With another defeat, their record may still be lacking when it comes to selection time on Sunday.
Fast start, slow finish
The MSU men’s team took on the No. 5 Gators, who are in the driver’s seat in the SEC and one of the early favorites for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Bulldogs, who had lost three straight going into Gainesville with the Vegas line set at 22.5 in favor of the Gators, gave the oddsmakers some nerves in the first half. The Bulldogs took a 24-14 lead after an early flurry, hitting 10-13 from the floor in the first eight minutes of the contest.
As has been the case all season, the first-half momentum soon dissipated. The Gators responded with a ruthless run, scoring 33 to MSU’s 11 over the rest of the half to take a 47-35 lead into the break.
The Bulldogs stuck around, but the final stretch showed the Gator’s depth and killer instinct, as they scored 41 of the game’s final 59 points to take a 108-74 win.
Josh Hubbard led MSU with 21 points, shooting 6-15 with a pair of makes from beyond the arc to go with five assists and two rebounds. Jayden Epps, 14 points, and Ja’Borri McGhee, 12, joined Hubbard in double digits while freshman King Grace added eight points in 19 minutes off the bench.
The Bulldogs are now 13-17, 5-12 in SEC play. They’ll play the final game of the regular season against Georgia at Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Early exit
The MSU women’s basketball team had a short stay in Greenville, S.C., at the SEC Tournament, falling 86-68 against Florida in the opening round.
MSU’s current five-game losing streak began with a poor February performance at home against the Gators.
Liv McGill proved to be the thorn in MSU’s side in that meeting, but it was Me’Arah O’Neal on Wednesday. The daughter of Shaquille O’Neal, she lived up to the family name with a dominant 22-point outing against the Bulldogs, hitting 4-6 from three-point range in the process.
McGill did get in on the action in the third quarter, nearly doubling her point total from the first half, finishing with 22 herself to help the Gators pull away out of the halftime interval.
One of the big problems for MSU early on was foul trouble – particularly for forwards Favour Nwaedozi and Madison Francis. The pair have been MSU’s top scorers this season and both players accumulated three fouls by halftime.
Five minutes into the second half, they had four fouls each, and Francis would later foul out shortly before the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs had to rely on Kharyssa Richardson for scoring, as well as guards Destiney McPhaul and Awa Fane. The pair have been threats as distance shooters at times this season, but did not provide regularly in terms of points, especially during SEC play.
The Gators took command, holding MSU scoreless over the final five minutes of the third frame to take a 26-point lead into the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs will await the results elsewhere in the sport, but the chances of making the NCAA Tournament seem slim after ending the season with five straight losses.
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