Four Takeaways from Mississippi State's Loss to Ole Miss
The Mississippi State men's basketball team fell to Ole Miss 86-82 on Tuesday night. This was the 269th meeting between the two teams, as the SEC's oldest rivalry dates back to 1914. Additionally, the Bulldogs remain winless (0-4) as the away team against the SEC while the Rebels continue an undefeated start (4-0) against the conference.
This matchup had many factors that influenced the outcome in Oxford, Miss. Here are four takeaways:
A Physical and Scrappy First Half
Bitter rivalries tend to be a bit more physical than a typical game and the first half of Tuesday night's bout was no different. This was apparent immediately, as after Mississippi State won the tip-off, a block and four offensive rebounds led to forward Cameron Matthews getting the game's first points after a full minute of possession.
The on-ball defense was tuned up a bit as well, as both teams often took quite a lot of time off of the shot clock before putting up something contested. In the cases where players scored on open shots, the play still took a while to develop.
Nevertheless, both teams were able to put the ball in the basket efficiently, as Mississippi State converted on 14-of-28 attempts while Ole Miss hit 15-of-34.
Each Team Took Advantage of the Other's Mistakes
A decent chunk of Ole Miss' points (12) in the first half were off the Bulldogs' nine turnovers. The Rebels logged six steals in the opening period and each of them were by different players.
The second half was a slight improvement in the turnovers department for Mississippi State, but they still gave the ball away six more times. Ole Miss finished the game scoring 18 points off Mississippi State's turnovers, while the Bulldogs scored four points off of Ole Miss' seven giveaways.
So how did Mississippi State make up for all of the turnovers (and not being able to score off Ole Miss'? They won in the offensive rebounding category 14-9, which resulted in 16 second-chance points compared to the Rebels' four.
Guard Trios Filled the Scoreboard
As previously stated, Matthews opened up the game's scoring and even tallied eight points on 4-of-6 shooting in the first half. But besides that, the scoreboard was filled by the guards from both teams.
Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard shined once again in the opening 20 minutes, as he recorded a team-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 2-of-5 from downtown.
Ole Miss guards Matthew Murrell (11), Jaylen Murray (8) and TJ Caldwell (8) combined for 27 of the Rebels' 39 first-half points on 50 percent from the field. Murray's second three-pointer came with three seconds remaining in the period to go into the locker room tied.
Ole Miss' big three helped lead the Rebels to a quick 11-point lead to start the second half. Like the first half, they played a lot of the second on the three-point line as they built their lead converting 12 from deep compared to Mississippi State's eight.
The Bulldogs were able to prevent the margin from spreading by Hubbard's scoring prowess all over the court, but also fellow guards Dashawn Davis and Shakeel Moore's efforts in the paint. Mississippi State finished the game scoring 44 points in the paint compared to Ole Miss' 32.
Both teams scored far more quickly and efficiently in the second half and the trios are a big reason. Murrell, Murray and Caldwell ended the night with a combined 59 of the Rebels' 86 points, while Hubbard, Davis and Moore collectively scored 50 of the Bulldogs' 82. That said, each team had one other double-digit scorer as Ole Miss forward Jaemyn Brakefield had 10 points and Matthews logged 16.
A Solid Night from the Charity Stripe was Tarnished Late
Mississippi State came into Tuesday night last in the SEC in free throw percentage with 68.4. Its struggles from the charity stripe have been very apparent since SEC play began and it's cost them multiple games and made other contests much closer than they should've been.
The Bulldogs did a very solid job from the line in the first half against Ole Miss as they converted on 8-of-9. The second half was slightly worse, but they were 14-of-18 in the final minute of regulation.
Davis hit a layup to cut Mississippi State's deficit to 84-82 with 40 seconds remaining. After a great defensive stand on Ole Miss' next possession, Matthews quickly ran up the court and was fouled while shooting with four seconds left.
The 60 percent free-throw shooter missed the first attempt, and even though he was supposed to purposely place the next attempt off the rim for forwards Tolu Smith III and Jimmy Bell Jr. to try and grab, he air-balled the shot and possession changed. Of course, Matthews is not to blame for the final score as the versatile senior recorded a team-high 12 rebounds, including five off of the offensive glass and also added five assists.
