Mississippi State Basketball Ends Season in First Round of NIT Postseason Play

The Bulldogs fought hard against the Virginia Cavaliers but couldn't overcome a sloppy first-half performance.

Mississippi State went one-and-done in the National Invitation Tournament and fell to the Virginia Cavaliers by a score of 60-57 on Wednesday evening. 

Tolu Smith posted a double-double for the Bulldogs with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Garrison Brooks and Howell-Trophy winner Iverson Molinar each scored 13 points. Brooks scored nine of his points on three consecutive three-pointers late in the second half. 

Mississippi State had an incredibly slow start in the first half, much like in many games this season. Molinar led the charge for the Bulldogs with seven points, but the team fell behind 19-27 heading into the locker room. Although they shot 40 percent from the field, the team committed nine turnovers-- five of which came in the first five minutes of action-- and sent the Cavaliers to the charity stripe eight times. The 19 points scored in the half was tied for MSU's fewest in a first half under head coach Ben Howland. 

It also didn't help that Mississippi State-- which should have been the home team-- was forced to play at John Paul Jones Arena in Virginia due to renovations at Humphrey Coliseum. The crowd in support of the lower-seeded Cavaliers was loud, proud and certainly got into the heads of Mississippi State players. Smith expressed his unhappiness with the situation once the game was over.

"A home-court advantage is a big advantage," Smith said. "Having that intensity on the home floor and home stages is better than anything else." 

With the season on the line, Mississippi State found a way to battle back and turn what looked to be a runaway game for Virginia into a back-and-forth contest. The Bulldogs went 7-8 from the field to start the second half to quiet the rowdy crowd. Molinar tied things up with a layup with 16:07 left to go, and Smith followed that up to take the lead one possession later. The two teams traded blows until the Cavaliers went on a 7-0 run and took a six-point lead with 10:46 left. 

Brooks hit the team's first shot in nearly four minutes to cut the deficit to four, but the Bulldogs couldn't keep up from there. The team exchanged shots for the remainder of the game-- Brooks hit a handful of three-pointers in the process-- but Virginia always maintained the slight advantage. 

Mississippi State managed to cut the Cavaliers' lead to 54-53 with only 2:44 remaining, but that was as close as the game got. Virginia knocked down a three-pointer and three free throws without much opposition to take a commanding seven-point lead with only 35 seconds remaining. Smith and Cameron Matthews made a quick jump shot in hopes of putting the Dawgs back in the fight, but it ultimately wasn't good enough. 

Howland's future as the leader of the Bulldogs remains in jeopardy, and a coaching search is expected to begin soon. Despite this, big-name players such as Molinar tried to ignore the rumors and focus on winning. 

"It doesn't matter that all the rumors are gong on," Molinar said. "We just go out there and play our hardest." 

Mississippi State finished the year with an 18-16 recording and went 8-10 in SEC play. They dominated other teams in Humphrey Coliseum, but ultimately went 1-10 in away games. Most of the team's stars are expected to return, and a new group of extremely talented Bulldogs will be in Starkville next year. However, there are plenty of questions that must be answered before Mississippi State takes to the court again later this year.