STARKVILLE — Mississippi State head coach Sam Purcell summed up his team’s loss to Florida pretty quickly in his opening statement after the game.
“I had too many people who just went quiet tonight, and that can’t happen in a game in the SEC,” he said. “Especially at home.”
The Bulldogs (18-9, 5-8 SEC) lost 71-56 to a Gators team sitting just above .500 on the season. MSU, who came into the final stretch of the season understanding that it would take a few more wins to put an NCAA Tournament bid beyond doubt, put up a strong display against Georgia and overcame a jittery road performance to beat Arkansas.
But that all fell apart on Thursday at The Hump. Purcell was far from happy with his team’s 22 turnovers in Fayetteville and put focus on ball security going into the Florida game. So why did his team look so unprepared when the first whistle blew?
“That’s the million-dollar question,” he said when asked about the lack of energy carrying over into the game. “I’m going to challenge my seniors at this point of the year. You’ve got to bring a level of toughness to you, you’ve got to set the tone. There’s no way a freshman should have more energy or juice or playing not to lose, with others who have been in these moments not seizing those moments.”
The slow run out of the gate allowed Florida to press the attack. The Gators ended the first quarter on a 14-2 run and began the second quarter on a 6-2 run, establishing the gap that would remain for most of the rest of the game. MSU had some runs, and the second half was virtually even, but the Bulldogs never got rolling at a pace that gave the visitors trouble.
Present alongside Purcell in the postgame press conference was by far MSU’s best player on the night, Madison Francis. She led the team with 20 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals. She also had four turnovers, one of three Bulldogs to do so on the night. Whether it came down to individual errors or costly moments of miscommunication, the ball just didn’t go where it was supposed to, and MSU paid for it.
“It started with the turnovers. We got emotional,” Purcell continued. “I thought we could have easily started 8-2. Had some high-low passes, wrap-around, and getting beat off the bounce. I called two timeouts in the first quarter because you could see it… made some substitutions. That’s the million-dollar question. I don’t understand why they didn’t come out with some more fight like (Madison) did.”
Both Purcell and Francis were visibly frustrated after the game, as was the entire team during the game. They came into the media room from a frustrated locker room. The Naismith Defensive Player of the Year candidate acknowledged that frustration, but she also kept her belief that the team has more in them with three games left to play.
“We’re all pretty disappointed,” she said. “We could have given a little more, executed differently, but at the end, we’re still a team. We’re still a family. We’re going to put this behind us, get back in the gym, focus on things that went wrong and see where we can turn it into a positive thing, and just keep going.”
MSU has a two-game road trip before returning home for the final game of the regular season. The Bulldogs will face No. 4 Texas on Sunday and Texas A&M on Feb. 26 before welcoming No. 7 LSU to Starkville for Senior Night on March 1.
The game against the Aggies is virtually a must-win for MSU to keep its tournament hopes alive, but an upset of a Top-10 team would go a long way toward that goal, as well. For Francis, it’s about finding a way to play their game again in the face of a tough opponent.
“Having more energy and not coming out timid,” Francis said. “I feel like this game we came out a bit timid, like coach said, so having more energy. Especially being a road game, with the crowd that they bring. Just play our game, not feed into how Texas plays, play our own game and limit turnovers.”
“You’ve still got everything that you want in front of you,” Purcell said. “You’ve got to put this one behind you because this is the SEC. I think I heard before I walked in here that Texas A&M beat Tennessee, so again, that’s this league. We’re all beating each other up. There’s no sisters of the poor, everybody’s good every single night. You’ve got to step up and show up. And we just didn’t get the job done.”
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