Another early deficit dooms No. 14 Mississippi State in 68-56 loss at No. 6 Tennessee
No. 14 Mississippi State fell behind early once again on the road and dropped a 68-56 decision at No. 6 Tennessee on Tuesday. The Bulldogs dropped to 15-4 overall and 3-3 in the SEC while Tennessee improved to 17-2 overall and 4-2 in the SEC.
Josh Hubbard led the Bulldogs with 14 points and Riley Kugel finished with 12 points. RJ Melendez added 10 points for Mississippi State and KeShawn Murphy had nine.
Tennessee was led by Chaz Lanier‘s 23 points, including five 3 pointers, while Jahmai Maschack and Jordan Gainey each had 10. Felix Okpara added nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the Volunteers.
“They started out punching us like we did in our last game at home,” said Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans. “They were ready to go and you can’t fall behind like that on the road. Their physicality off the ball bothered us and we knew going in it was going to be hard to pass and catch the ball. Offensively, they make every pass difficult and they are hard to play against, especially here.
“They had us off-balanced. We certainly made mistakes and I thought we were okay, defensively, in the first half. We had some breakdowns on Lanier with Hubbard guarding him. When guys like that make their first shot, it changes their confidence.”
Mississippi State trailed by 18 points at halftime but opened the second half on a 15-4 run to cut the deficit to 38-31. However, Tennessee responded with a 12-2 run and were never threatened the rest of the way.
For the game, State shot 34% from the field and made 10 of 33 from 3 point territory. The Bulldogs were 8 of 12 at the foul line and had 11 turnovers. Tennessee shot 42% from the floor and made 10 of 28 beyond the 3 point arc. The Volunteers were 12 of 13 at the foul line, had 10 turnovers and outrebounded State 36-31.
“In the second half we didn’t change our attack other than just doing what we needed to do,” added Jans. “We were trying to get more paint touches. We only had 14 paint touches in the first half, which was a season low for us. I felt like we were just standing around watching each other in the first half. In the second half we ran our offense better but it is easier when the score got the way it did and they let their foot off the gas, defensively.”
For the second straight road game, the Bulldogs fell behind early and never found a rhythm in the first half. Tennessee bolted out to a 19-6 lead thanks to Lanier’s hot shooting. The Bulldogs got within 25-16 late in the first half only to see Tennessee end the half on a 9-0 run to lead 34-16 at halftime.
In the first half State shot just 22% from the field and made just 3 of 15 beyond the arc. The Bulldogs were 1 of 2 at the line and had eight turnovers. Tennessee shot 41% from the field in the first half and made 6 of 15 from 3 point range. The Volunteers were 4 of 4 at the charity stripe and had six turnovers. Tennessee outrebounded Ste 21-16 in the opening half and outscored State 12-6 in points off turnovers.
Up next
Mississippi State at South Carolina on Saturday with a noon tipoff on the SEC Network – The Bulldogs close out the week with a rematch against South Carolina, who State routed in the SEC season opener.
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