Suffering a 55-51 setback to Alabama, the Bulldogs experienced yet another tough loss in Humphrey Coliseum Tuesday night.
Mississippi State University’s record fell to 11-13 overall and 4-7 in conference play. The end of the game was a hard-fought battle; the Bulldogs competed until the final buzzer. MSU had one final shot at victory, trailing 51-54 with 11.4 seconds left in the game, but the Bulldogs could not pull out the win. 
“We didn’t finish at the rim.” said sophomore guard Craig Sword. “We have to come back, practice, listen to coach and get more shots up.”
The game was neck-and-neck with eight tied scores throughout the contest, but the Bulldogs’ 15 turnovers made it too difficult a task to defeat the Crimson Tide. 
“We have to do a better job of knocking down our free throws. Our talking on the court and more importantly, our listening on the court has to be better. This one hurts because we did some good things defensively. But we have to win games like this on our home court,” said Head Coach Rick Ray. 
The team held the Crimson Tide to 32 percent shooting in addition to out-rebounding Alabama. MSU out-rebounded the Crimson Tide 37-33. 
“It hurts,” sophomore guard I.J. Ready said.
The Bulldog offense struggled for stretches throughout the game. MSU came away with only five assists on 17 made shots. The lack of productive ball movement has caused the Bulldog offense to be easily stopped this season. 
The team will travel to Columbia, Missouri to take on the Mizzou Tigers on Saturday. The Tigers are looking to put an end to their 10-game losing streak and improve their 7-17 overall record. It has been over a month since the Tigers have won a basketball game. 
Starting guard for the Tigers Wes Clark went down with a gruesome injury in the Tuesday night game against South Carolina. The SEC Network compared the injury to Louisville’s Kevin Ware’s unforgettable injury in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. The Tigers are now missing four guards (three to suspensions) as they go into the Valentine’s Day battle. The Tigers have lost their last three home games by at least 14 points. These circumstances present a good opportunity for the Bulldogs to leave Missouri with a win. 
Sophomore Johnathan Williams III has been a bright spot for Missouri this season. He leads the Tigers in points and rebounds per game. His biggest improvement has come on the offensive end of the floor. He scores 12 points per game, up from six points a year ago. The Bulldogs will have to figure out how to slow down Williams to come away with a road victory.
The Tigers do not have a strong rim protecter, so MSU will have a chance to attack the rim and get easy baskets.
After defeating LSU and Tennessee, the Bulldogs looked like they were begining to click. However, the team proceeded to lose two games in a row, which Ray addressed.  
“We are not regressing at all. We just need a win,” Ray said.
The Tigers and Bulldogs will face off at 3 p.m. in the Mizzou Arena. The game will also be nationally televised on ESPNU.