NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Playing for the third day in a row and with an NCAA Tournament berth all but assured, Mississippi State would have been excused for not playing with maximum energy and effort Saturday. But that’s not the way these Bulldogs operate.
No. 9 seed MSU came out the aggressor in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals against No. 4 seed Auburn, leading by eight points after the first six minutes. The Tigers led for the entire second half and handed the Bulldogs a 73-66 defeat, but MSU proved a lot about its mettle during its three games at Bridgestone Arena.
“We always knew that we could compete with anybody we face,” said freshman guard Josh Hubbard, who scored 17 of his game-high 20 points in the second half. “As long as we stay together and stay positive and have that confidence through adversity, we can face anything that comes at us.”
The Bulldogs (21-13) may not have arrived in Nashville brimming with that confidence, considering that they entered the postseason on a four-game losing streak and had fallen from a near-lock for the NCAA Tournament to dangerous bubble territory. MSU’s trademark defense let it down at times during that skid, but it was back with a vengeance in all three games this week.
Auburn (26-7) managed to shoot 50 percent in each half Saturday, but as Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl said multiple times postgame, his team had to scratch and claw to get to 73 points. The Bulldogs forced 15 turnovers, well above Auburn’s season average of 10.4, and five MSU players had at least two steals.
“People talk about our defense, and I cringe a little bit this season because it was not quite the level that we wanted, or even last year,” head coach Chris Jans said. “We as a group took advantage of (having four days off). Our core defensive principles were better these three games than they were the majority of the games leading up to the SEC Tournament.”
D.J. Jeffries, who has been a major bright spot since returning from a knee injury toward the end of February, helped limit SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht in Friday’s upset win over top-seeded Tennessee. He was active again on the defensive end against the Tigers with three steals and added 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting.
The Bulldogs could have folded once Auburn took a nine-point lead with nine minutes remaining, but Hubbard, who had struggled to find clean looks all day against a Tigers defense that was keying on him, had 15 points in those last nine minutes and cut the margin to one with five minutes left. In the end, Auburn’s interior play and free throw shooting proved to be too much.
“Of course you’re going to have fatigue. It’s the third game in three days,” Jeffries said. “But the adrenaline kicks in, going out there and competing, it just keeps you going. I wouldn’t use that as an excuse for the reason why we came up short.”
As mercurial as MSU has been for most of the season, the Bulldogs’ resiliency has rarely been in question. MSU bounced back from a non-conference loss to lowly Southern in early December and won its next five games leading up to SEC play. The Bulldogs rebounded from a 3-6 start to their conference schedule and reeled off five straight wins. And they won two games in the SEC Tournament after a disappointing finish to the regular season.
MSU has the guard play, the post presence, and most crucially the defense to go toe to toe with the best teams in the SEC and the country. All of those elements will not show up in every single game, but as the Bulldogs head into a tournament known for its unpredictability, they do so in a much more comfortable headspace than they were in just a week ago.
“We’re making the right strides,” Jeffries said. “We came together at the right time, especially coming off the four-game losing streak. We came together and rallied together and got two big wins. Today hurt, but at least we have some momentum going into March (Madness).”
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