Analyzing Mississippi State's Shortcomings Against Auburn In SEC Tournament Semifinals
STARKVILLE, Miss - The Mississippi State Bulldogs suffered a gut-wrenching loss to the Auburn Tigers in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. All hope is not lost, as they have played their way into the NCAA tournament with two strong performances against LSU and top-seeded Tennessee.
In those performances, the Bulldogs controlled things on the offensive side of the ball while also stifling the offensives of the opposing team with great intensity and quick hands-on defense. The defense was similar to those outings against the Tigers, but It came down to season-long issues that many suspected could hold Mississippi State back from a deep run.
Missed Free Throws
If anyone has paid close attention to the Bulldogs all season, many of their single-digit losses came from missed free-throw opportunities. Against Auburn, this was the case as they shot 17-27 from the charity stripe. The timing of the missed shots also hurt with most of the misses coming when State had an opportunity to extend the lead or even take the lead.
Josh Hubbard has been at the free throw line frequently in the past number of games but that could be due to his shot not falling. He is the most consistent at the line but at times he will leave one short. The same can be said with Tolu Smith. He will go on spurts of great free-throw shooting performances but then end up missing four shots like he did in today's game.
The Bulldogs finish at the bottom of the SEC once again with the worst free throw percentage (67.4 percent) and it could hurt them in the NCAA tournament.
Missed Offensive Opportunities
There were many times in this game against the Tigers when the ball did not go to the proper places. Many times the Bulldogs would hold the ball too long while Smith was battling in the post for processioning. In some games, this will work in favor of State when they have the three ball going for them, but when it is an off night, the forced post shots could be looked at as a live ball turnover.
Smith is 6'11 and has size on most of his opportunities but at times, he likes to dribble the ball a tick of a second too long instead of going up and finishing over a player. There were plenty of times when he could have done that to help kickstart him offensively but he seems to only be looking to draw fouls on some of the takes near the basket.
With his inconsistency at the line, you would like for him to finish those easy opportunities around the rim.
Finding A Consistent Offensive Game Plan When Hubbard Is Cold
It was mentioned in the broadcast that Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl is similar to State head coach Chris Jans on the defensive side of the ball. But for offense, he has an "offensive coordinator" that can scheme up gameplans and go through the analytical side of the basketball to generate offense. For the Bulldogs, Most nights it's either defense winning the game, or an offensive exposition from Hubbard.
Hubbard has played some great basketball over the past number of games but he will get cold from behind the arch once every four to five games. In the last two games from the 3-point line, he is 4-18 and most of them seemed forced. The ones that are good quality shots he tends to make but others seem like players hoping to fall in.
This is a testament to the teams defense because of how inconstant other players are on the offensive end. The ball tends to stagnate when the Bulldogs want to post up. The SEC has evolved to a fast paced, live and die by the 3-pointer type of conference over night. Great defense can when you most games like State have done over the past two season, but offense can seal the deal when other players have it going.
The Bulldogs needs a players that can take an intermintiate shot inside the arch to unlock the true potential of the team. Keshawn Murphy can be one of those players but it could also be down to the lack of pure scorer that Mississippi State has on its roster.
The Bulldogs are now waiting on Selection Sunday were their bid to the dance has been solidified after the Volunteer win. Now it is down to seeding and in March, anything can happen if you are placed into a pod that can benefit the underdog.
