Following the Mississippi State men’s basketball team’s first win over a top-five opponent in two decades, the Bulldogs came up just short in Saturday’s contest against Alabama.
Missed opportunities by MSU (12-4, 1-2 SEC) down the stretch — particularly at the free throw line — allowed the Crimson Tide to pull away and post an 82-74 victory in front of a sold-out crowd in Humphrey Coliseum.
Chris Jans’ group opened the game by punching Alabama in the mouth, going on a 15-6 run in the first six minutes. But the pendulum swung the other way. The Crimson Tide went on a 9-0 run to tie things up at the 11:26 minute mark of the first half.
Both teams continued to slug it out, but the Bulldogs, despite a strong showing from veteran center Tolu Smith and freshman standout Josh Hubbard, found themselves with a 40-38 deficit at halftime.
Bulldog guard Shakeel Moore opened the second half with a quick five points to flip the scoreboard to 43-40 in MSU’s favor. That run was immediately countered and overtaken by a hungry Alabama team that went on a 22-9 run to take a double-digit lead with 12 minutes left in the game.
With their backs against the wall, the Bulldogs looked to its stars in Hubbard and Smith, who aided the team in overcoming the Tide’s surge. With just under five minutes left to play, Mississippi State reclaimed a lead, holding a 70-69 advantage, but it would not last.
Despite a series of back-and-forth action in the latter portion of the second half, Alabama closed out the game on an 8-0 run mostly due to Mississippi State missing six straight shots from the charity stripe in the last two minutes of the game.
In what was an eventful and entertaining game, the Bulldogs scored by committee with four players reaching double-digits. Smith, who recorded a double-double, led the team with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Other notable scorers were Hubbard with 14 points, Moore with 13, and Cam Matthews with 12.
On the Alabama side, Mark Sears led the Crimson Tide in scoring with 22 points, but was most effective at the tail end of the contest. The senior guard, in the last four minutes of action, hit a momentum-shifting triple, landed a jump shot, and went 4/4 from the free throw line to near single-handedly will his team to victory.
Next up for MSU is midweek march at No. 17 Kentucky on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT
