Before hosting the LSU Tigers on Saturday afternoon, the Mississippi State Bulldogs took on the Texas A&M Aggies Wednesday night at Humphrey Coliseum.
Looking to snap a four-game losing streak, the Bulldogs opened up a double-digit halftime lead before surrendering the lead late in the second half. MSU freshman guard Craig Sword banked in a three-pointer in the waning moments of the second half to send the game into overtime, but State only managed to score two points in the five-minute extra period and dropped the decision to the Aggies 55-49.
MSU head coach Rick Ray said his team struggled at times offensively but guarded the Aggies well, which is the most important aspect.
“(I am) disappointed with the loss because I thought our guys really came out and fought hard and competed,” MSU head coach Rick Ray said. “Maybe our guys played too many minutes (down the stretch), but we don’t have much of a choice when we’re playing an overtime game and have a seven or eight man rotation.”
Statistically, the Dogs shot 66.7 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from downtown in the first half, but the second half was a different story. State shot 26.3 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three-point-land in the second half. In overtime, the Dogs went just 1-6 and did not make a three-point shot.
Junior guard Jalen Steele, who scored all of his nine points in the first half, said the guys must practice the simple things to get better at them.
“I guess mentally, we ran out of gas,” Steele said. “But physically, we were good. We just made little mistakes towards the end of the game.”
Freshman big man Gavin Ware led the Dogs with 14 points, eight of them in the first half. Ware said the Dogs need to rely on their principle of playing good defense, which they failed to do in the second half.             
“Coach said that Texas A&M is a good defensive team, so there is going to be times where we won’t be able to get good looks,” Ware said. “In the first half, I was able to get around the basket and score more. In the second half, they began to start closing in, so I have to rely more on my low cuts.”
MSU freshman Fred Thomas had been averaging over 11 points in conference play but finished with just two points on two free throws.
The Dogs held Aggie superstar Elston Turner five points below his season average, but Aggie guard Fabyon Harris stepped up and scored 17 points.
But it was Turner who had the ball in his hands late in overtime and made a jumper to put the Aggies up by four with 30 seconds left.
Turner said he was frustrated in the first half but was able to come back and make the key shot.
“I just couldn’t let my team down. We had 17 points in the first half, and we weren’t playing well defensively. I challenged myself to step it up and pick it up for my team. It just changed everything,” Turner said. “It (overtime shot) was spur of the moment. I wanted the ball with the last couples of seconds left in the game.”
With four MSU players playing 35 or more minutes against the Aggies, the Bulldogs will look to rest before preparing for the LSU Tigers, who pulled off an upset of the Missouri Tigers Wednesday night. LSU will go into Saturday’s game with an 11-7 overall record and are currently tied with MSU with a 2-5 record in conference play.
With the Bulldogs certainly looking to get back into the winning column, Ray said he would spend the coming hours watching film and determining what MSU will need to do to be well prepared for the Tigers.
“I don’t know a lot about LSU at this time,” Ray said after the game. “I’ll stay up most of the night watching LSU and get up in the morning and watch LSU, but right now I don’t know much about them.”