Mississippi State Men's Basketball Outlasts Washington State, 76-64

The Mississippi State men's basketball team defeated Washington State 76-64 to advance to the championship game of the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament.

Mississippi State forward Cameron Matthews and guard Josh Hubbard led the team in points, but this was truly an all-around effort on both ends from start to finish.

The Bulldogs finished the first half in style, after forward Jimmie Bell Jr. ferociously blocked the ball off the glass and Davis converted a tough layup with two seconds remaining to go up by six. However, that would be the largest lead of the first 20 minutes, as it was the definition of a back-and-forth affair.

Mississippi State converted an efficient 46.4 percent of their shots in the period compared to Washington State's 34.4 percent, but both teams struggled mightily from behind the arc, as they made a combined 4-of-21 attempts.

The Bulldogs often drove inside for a tough basket, but also a whistle to send them to the line. Six players connected on a respectable 8-of-11 free throws. These were obviously crucial in helping them gain the lead heading to the locker room.

One reason why the half ended in just a six-point deficit was due to the turnover battle. The Cougars gave the ball away four times (Davis had three steals), but held strong defensively by forcing seven turnovers, some of which coming immediately after the Bulldogs stole it away.

The roles somewhat switched early in the second half as Mississippi State created some takeaways behind back-to-back steals from Bell, but the Cougars prevented them from expanding on a 10-point lead by hitting shots from all over the court. Washington State guards Myles Rice and Joseph Yesufu.

This became a theme of the second half, but Mississippi State started to hit its shots with both field goals and free throws. Washington State kept up but missed a couple here and there that eventually created enough of a deficit for the Bulldogs to run away with their fourth win and remain undefeated in the young season.

Basketball coaches at all levels constantly preach the importance of making free throws and it paid off for the Bulldogs as they converted on 21-of-25 attempts.