Bulldog blow another early lead, fall to No. 18 Alabama, 97-82

It was the same song and different verse for Mississippi State on Tuesday night at Humphrey Coliseum. No. 18 Alabama recovered from an early 14-point deficit and blew out the Bulldogs, 97-82.

With the loss, Mississippi State dropped to 10-7 overall and 2-2 in the SEC. Alabama improved to 12-5 overall and also 2-2 in the league. Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans remained winless against Alabama in his Bulldog tenure and is now 0-8 against the Tide. Overall, the Bulldogs have lost nine straight meetings against Alabama.

“They played better, we played worse,” head coach Chris Jans remarked. “That’s probably what happened. We didn’t capitalize on the great start that we had, the momentum that we built. The crowd, especially the students, were into the game and couldn’t draw up a better start. It was very similar to our last outing on the road. We got off to a better start this game and we could not sustain it.”

Josh Hubbard led State with 23 points and Jayden Epps had 13 in the loss. Epps was also injured late in the second half and did not return to the game. Quincy Ballard ended up with a career-high 17 rebounds, as well.

“We started off good, up 14,” recalled Hubbard. “Then they went on a run and we didn’t respond. We were down 2 at the half, came out and it was still in their favor. They played a heck of a game. They had a good gameplan both offensively and defensively. So a lot of credit to them.”

Labaron Philon paced Alabama with a game-high 32 points while Aiden Sherrell added 22 for the Tide. Aden Holloway finished with 15 for Alabama and Amari Allen had 13 points and 13 rebounds.

State trailed by only two at halftime but Alabama quickly took away any hopes for a Bulldog rally. The Tide reeled off 12 straight points early in the second half and were never threatened the rest of the way. As Jans pointed out, that was almost a carbon-copy situation of State’s previous loss at Kentucky.

“You want some leadership at that point,” Jans added. “You need some guys on the court to help stay the ship a little bit. In years past, I would tell you is dig in on the defensive end, try to get 2-3 stops in a row and turn them over. But our team does not turn the other team over and that is what you try to hang your hat on.”

For the game, State shot 37% from the floor and made 9 of 28 from 3 point territory. The Bulldogs were 17 of 25 from the charity stripe and had four turnovers. Alabama shot 44% from the field and made 12 of 34 beyond the 3 point arc. The Crimson Tide feasted at the foul line, as well, and made 27 of 33. Alabama had five turnovers and outrebounded State, 47-43.

State got off to another hot start and led 29-15 after an Epps 3 pointer with 8:13 left in the first half. But it was all Alabama the remainder of the half. The Tide outscored State 21-5 in the last eight minutes and took a 36-34 halftime advantage.

In the opening half, State shot just 34% from the field and made 4 of 13 beyond the 3 point arc. The Bulldogs were just 4 of 8 at the foul line, had two turnovers and both teams had 24 rebounds. Alabama shot 38% in the first half and made 5 of 18 from 3 point range. The Tide was 7 of 9 at the foul line and had three turnovers.

After a quick 2-0 start, the Bulldogs have now been dominated in the second half in two straight games and are back to .500 in the league. With an important rivalry game Saturday, the Bulldogs hope to regroup quickly.

“Obviously everyone knows who we are playing Saturday,” noted Sergej Macura. “It’s a big game. We got to restart our minds coming tomorrow and get a couple of good practices in and prepare the gameplan. We’ve got to trust the coaching staff like always and prepare ourselves mentally and be ready to play a very physical game.”

Up Next

Mississippi State wraps up the two-game homestand on Saturday when rival Ole Miss visits Humphrey Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game is also televised by the SEC Network. Ole Miss is 9-7 overall and 1-2 in the SEC heading into Wednesday’s road game at Georgia.