After two big conference wins against Ole Miss and Auburn, it seemed that there may have been hope for the remainder of the men’s basketball season; that hope was short-lived.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs hosted the Missouri Tigers on Feb. 28 with a shot at pulling off the win. However, they did not execute. MSU was the underdog by -1.5 points, meaning that sports bettors projected them to lose by under two points. They lost by 24, with a final score of 88-64.
The Bulldogs started off weak, setting the precedent of how the remainder of the game would go. Josh Hubbard put the first two points on the board for MSU three minutes into the game while Mizzou had already reached nine points.
“For whatever reason, you know, we got off to just a horrible start again,” Head Coach Chris Jans said. “We just played uphill all afternoon.”
Heading into halftime, the Bulldogs were down by 31 points to the Tigers. This has not been the first time that MSU was down by 30 at halftime, as the game against Alabama a few days prior showed the same downhill trend of not wanting the win badly enough.
“I would push it for more to the start of the game,” Hubbard said. “When we get punched, responding quicker, playing hard and things like that. So, that’s exactly what I think has been going on in the past two games. Just it’s right at tipoff, it’s got to be from the get-go.”
In the first half, center Quincy Ballard was the team scorer with six points, as Hubbard, Jayden Epps and Ja’Borri McGhee each had four.
During halftime, however, the Bulldog fans found the positive for that game day. MSU hosted the baby diaper derby, and the MSU Esports team broadcast a live Rocket League competition against Mizzou. The Bulldogs took a victory in this halftime game.
The Bulldogs started the second half down by 31 with a score of 54-23. Although they could not make a comeback, they held the Tigers down to 34 points and earned 23 points for themselves, doubling their first-half numbers.
Hubbard was the lead scorer in the second half, scoring 12 points, but freshman King Grace was right behind him with eight points. King has played the last two games for the Bulldogs and is beginning to find his rhythm.
“I would say just taking my time and letting it come to me is working for me,” Grace said. “Just being hard and aggressive on defense and letting the offense come to me just continues to work out, and just trusting my teammates.”
The Bulldogs put up a fight, but unfortunately added to their three-game losing streak. In only conference play, MSU has suffered a loss of 20+ points against six teams, with the worst loss against Vanderbilt, 88-56.
“It’s more than frustrating,” Jans said regarding his team’s performance. “Whatever word is worse than frustrating, insert that for me.”
MSU has two regular-season games left before heading to the SEC tournament, and Grace knows that his team needs to step up if they want to end on a positive note.
“I think it’ll take a whole group effort,” Grace said. “Everybody buying in and wanting to compete and wanting to play hard for each other and win together.”
The Dawgs will head to Florida to play the Gators on Tuesday, followed by one last home game against Georgia on March 7. MSU is currently 13-16 in the season, and they have two more chances to bring it close to even.
