STARKVILLE – Mississippi State lost its fifth straight SEC contest on Saturday in an early game against No. 15 Vanderbilt.
The game was moved up from 5 p.m. to 11 a.m. in anticipation of bad weather from the nationwide winter storm, and while the downpour had started by the time the game ended, for the Bulldogs, it began fairly quickly after the tipoff.
The Commodores came out firing, jumping out to a 22-4 lead in just over five minutes of play, going on two different 10-pt scoring runs while the Bulldogs managed just two made shots from the floor.
It was a blitz of a start to the contest, one the Bulldogs simply didn’t recover from. A brief run over the middle of the half saw them get the lead down to 15, but the team couldn’t get out of its own way.
The Bulldogs committed 11 first-half turnovers while shooting 11-29 from the floor and 5-10 from the free-throw line. Vanderbilt committed just four turnovers and made seven shots from beyond the arc to boost their advantage.
The Commodores hit a second-chance three-pointer at the buzzer to make it a 51-30 advantage at the halftime break, a play that highlighted both a visiting team at the height of confidence and a Bulldog team that couldn’t get back to the locker room soon enough.
The onslaught continued into the second half, though some Bulldogs showed some fight. Dellquan Warren had a hustle play rewarded with an and-one bucket by freshman King Grace, who in turn had his own hustle play to chase down a breakaway layup after a turnover. Initially, it looked like a clean block, but officials ruled it a goaltend as the Commodores extended their lead.
Vandy continued to expand the lead until the final seconds, winning by a margin of 32 points.
MSU next faces LSU in Baton Rouge on Wednesday.
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