Poor perimeter shooting dooms Mississippi State in 68-67 loss to rival Ole Miss

For the third straight game, Mississippi State jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first half. And for the third straight game, the Bulldogs squandered that lead and fell in defeat down the stretch.

Ole Miss’ Patton Pinkins hit a mid-range jumper with 19 seconds left and State wasted golden opportunities in the final possessions, giving the Rebels a 68-67 win at Humphrey Coliseum. With the loss, State fell to 10-8 overall and 2-3 in the SEC while Ole Miss improved to 11-7 and 3-2. For State head coach Chris Jans, it was the second career loss to Ole Miss.

Jayden Epps led State with 14 and Josh Hubbard added 13. But the Bulldog backcourt duo were a combined 7 of 34 from the field and just 3 of 20 beyond the 3 point arc. Jamarion Davis-Fleming had 13 points and eight boards for the Bulldogs while Sergej Macura had nine points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

“I didn’t think our team handed the other teams’ runs in our two previous games,” Jans said afterwards. “But I thought tonight they handled it better. They stood their ground, found ourselves down four late but stayed together. We got the stops we needed but couldn’t find a way to put the ball through the goal the last couple of possessions.

“From where I sat, it was a completely different feeling in our huddles compared to our huddles in the previous two games. We just didn’t shoot the ball the way they are capable of and (Epps and Hubbard) are a big part of us scoring the basketball.”

The second half was back and forth throughout and then a Storr 3 point put the Rebels up, 62-59, with 2:50 remaining. Moments later, Hubbard scored five straight to give State a 67-66 lead with just 34.7 seconds remaining.

After Pinkins gave Ole Miss the lead for good, Hubbard then missed two free throws with 12 seconds left and also missed a driving layup with two seconds remaining.

“All that matters is who won and who lost,” added Jans. “I understand that. But the situational part of the game, you get to the end and it is magnified because time runs out. But they were the right plays. I will take that scenario 100 out of 100 (times) in that type of game with what the score was.”

For the game, State shot just 37% from the field and 5 of 27 from 3 point territory. The Bulldogs were 14 of 23 at the foul line, had eight turnovers and outrebounded Ole Miss, 46-43. Ole Miss shot 41% from the floor and made 2 of 20 beyond the 3 point arc. The Rebels were 8 of 10 at the foul line and had five turnovers.

“Coach has been stressing that a lot to us, as well,” Epps said of blowing early leads. “Tonight we got off to a great start and early in the season we weren’t getting off to great starts but finishing better. But Coach has been stressing that we’ve got to figure out a way to put together 40 minutes. We have to fight and sustain leads. That is something we have to work on and go back to the drawing board to figure it out.”

Similar to the previous two games, State had a quick start and led 15-7 after a Macura layup with 11 minutes left in the first half. The Bulldogs would lead by as many as 11 in the opening half before Ole Miss rallied late and cut the State lead to 30-27 at halftime.

The Bulldogs shot 40% in the first half and missed all 12 attempts beyond the 3 point arc. State was 6 of 11 at the foul line, had five turnovers and outrebounded Ole Miss, 22-20, in the first half. Ole Miss shot 32% in the opening half and made 1 of 13 from 3 point range. The Rebels were 2 of 2 at the charity stripe and had three turnovers.

Up Next

Mississippi State returns to the road on Wednesday with a trip to College Station, Texas. The Bulldogs and Texas A&M Aggies will tip things off at 8 p.m. and the game is also televised by the SEC Network. After Saturday’s win at Texas, the Aggies are 14-4 overall and 4-1 in the SEC.