NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mississippi State and Missouri were trading blows in the second half Thursday night, and when the Tigers’ Jacob Crews connected on a tiebreaking 3-pointer with five minutes left, it felt like a major blow.
But the Bulldogs responded quickly. Star sophomore guard Josh Hubbard sprinted to the left corner and fired away, nailing the shot as a late closeout from Crews made contact with him. The ensuing free throw put MSU up by one in a game the Bulldogs had trailed most of the way.
It was all downhill from there for No. 10 seed MSU. What had been a back-and-forth game for the entire half turned one-sided in what Bulldogs head coach Chris Jans called “winning time.” The seventh-seeded Tigers outscored MSU by 13 after Hubbard’s four-point play, with the Bulldogs missing their next seven field goals. Missouri sent MSU home from the Southeastern Conference Tournament in the second round with an 85-73 victory.
“It was just a bad stretch for us and a good stretch for them,” Hubbard said. “They just executed well offensively. We had some defensive errors, and that’s pretty much it.”
The officials were liberal with their whistles, calling a combined 40 fouls, and the Tigers had the edge at the free throw line, making 82 percent of their foul shots compared to 70 percent for the Bulldogs. RJ Melendez lost track of a cutting Caleb Grill with the game tied, and KeShawn Murphy could not get there in time to prevent a dunk that put Missouri ahead for good.
MSU (21-12, 8-10 SEC) did well to prevent the Tigers (22-10, 10-8) from heating up behind the arc — as they did in a 27-point blowout of the Bulldogs at Humphrey Coliseum in early February. Grill, the SEC Sixth Man of the Year, was 6-for-11 from 3-point range in that game, but MSU held him to 1-for-8 in the rematch at Bridgestone Arena. His lone made 3-pointer came just ahead of the halftime buzzer, giving Missouri a five-point lead at the break.
But the Bulldogs’ emphasis on guarding the 3-point line exposed MSU in the interior. By giving extra attention to Grill, guards like Tamar Bates and Tony Perkins had favorable matchups to get downhill. Bates still managed to go 3-for-5 from deep and led all scorers with 25 points, while Perkins added 20. That duo was a combined 14-for-22 from the floor and 14-for-14 at the foul line.
“The 3-point line was a big part of our game plan,” Jans said. “We’ve been deservingly much maligned for our percentage defensively this year, and certainly when we played them the last time they went crazy from 3. They obviously have a lot of guys. Caleb Grill is a great player. I have a ton of respect for him, but they have a lot of good players who can do different things. Tonight, Perkins and Bates had their way with us.”
A night after the Bulldogs made 15 3-pointers to defeat LSU in the opening round, they were ice cold, finishing 6-for-30 from distance. Hubbard was 3-for-14, Melendez 1-for-7 and Riley Kugel and Claudell Harris each 0-for-3.
MSU withstood an early 10-0 Tigers run, scoring eight straight points to tie the game late in the first half. Murphy had the Bulldogs’ last nine points of the half and finished with 18. Shawn Jones also gave MSU a boost early in the game with eight points, two steals and a block in the first half alone.
Jones played 26 minutes, the most action he has seen all year in a conference game that did not go to overtime.
“(I was) playing defense first, and the offense came when it came to me,” Jones said. “To be confident in my shot and just trust the offensive work that we’re doing, it’ll all come to me.”
The Bulldogs controlled the early portion of the second half, then went back in front with an 8-0 run just before the 10-minute mark on a Melendez 3-point play. The second half featured five lead changes and 13 ties before Missouri pulled away late. Hubbard led MSU with 24 points, but this was far from his most efficient game of the season.
Jans will lead the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year since he arrived in Starkville. MSU will learn its seed and first-round opponent Sunday evening.
“We would definitely like to have those last four minutes back,” Jans said. “It was winning time, and we didn’t play well in winning time. That’s the bottom line, they played better than we did.”
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