Four days after Mississippi State’s second-half defense led the way in a win over a top-10 Texas A&M team by allowing just 23 points, an Oklahoma squad that had lost five straight overwhelmed that same Bulldogs defense in the second half Saturday.
The Sooners made 17 of their 25 shots in the half and were 7-for-13 from 3-point range. It added up to a 59-point half for Oklahoma, the worst defensive half for MSU in three seasons under head coach Chris Jans. The No. 21 Bulldogs had bounced back from a slow start to take a three-point lead at the break, but they could not overcome the explosive Sooners’ offense in the second half and lost 93-87 at Norman’s Lloyd Noble Center.
“We couldn’t guard them in the second half,” Jans said. “We switched coverages multiple times to try to screw them up, and they did a good job of attacking us. They had a plan, and we tried to disrupt that plan and do different coverages, but unfortunately it didn’t work out. That’s the bottom line. That’s the story.”
MSU (19-8, 7-7 Southeastern Conference) fell behind 12-5 after six minutes before settling in on both ends of the floor. As he has done so often throughout the year, KeShawn Murphy gave the Bulldogs an immediate boost off the bench, with 10 of his 16 points coming in the first half. Riley Kugel tipped in his own missed layup to give MSU its first lead of the day, a lead the Bulldogs pushed as high as six points late in the first half.
The two teams finished with the same number of made field goals, but MSU had 18 more attempts, thanks mostly to a 20-8 edge in offensive rebounds. The Bulldogs did have a 21-7 advantage in second-chance points, but simply could not string together enough defensive stops.
“For whatever reason, when they tipped the ball, we just didn’t play with the same pop,” Jans said. “We just didn’t have the same energy that we had shown the last two games, and at the end of the day, it’s my responsibility to get them ready to go.”
Oklahoma (17-10, 4-10) went back in front on Jalon Moore’s 3-pointer two minutes into the second half, part of a stretch in which the Sooners scored on eight straight possessions out of the intermission. The hosts made their first seven shots of the half, led by Moore, who had 15 of his 18 points in the second half.
Freshman Jeremiah Fears led all scorers with 27 points, 11 of them coming at the free throw line, as well as 10 assists. Sam Godwin added 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds.
Josh Hubbard scored 19 points to lead MSU and set a program record by making a 3-pointer for the 40th straight game. Claudell Harris and Kugel joined Hubbard and Murphy in double figures with 11 points each, while RJ Melendez was one point shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 boards.
Oklahoma used a 9-0 run to create some separation midway through the second half and stretch the lead to double digits. The Sooners led by as many as 14 with less than four minutes to play before the Bulldogs worked their way back and cut the deficit to three on a Harris 3-pointer. But that was as close as they got, with Oklahoma icing the game at the foul line.
MSU is at No. 4 Alabama on Tuesday night. The Crimson Tide defeated the Bulldogs 88-84 at Humphrey Coliseum in late January.
“I thought maybe we were on our way to being a great team and having this great momentum,” Jans said. “We definitely took a step backward today.”
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