Bulldogs lose big second-half lead in loss to Aggies
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Even with a 13-point lead, the press was too much.
Mississippi State led by 13 early in the second half on Wednesday night against Texas A&M, but couldn't hold on. Fueled by a press defense the Bulldogs couldn't figure out, the Aggies came all the way back and defeated MSU 56-55. When all was said and done, Bulldogs head coach Ben Howland said he shouldered all the blame for how his team lost.
"I think the key factor of the game, and it’s all on me, was our attack of (Texas A&M's) press," Howland said. "I though their press got better in the second half. We got a little fatigued, but I thought what we were doing was too tentative. We have a different press offense I’ve almost always used my whole career we needed to use where it’s much more aggressive trying to score. We never hurt them in our press offense, so they stayed in (their defense). If you look at the game, we had 15 turnovers. I bet you half of them were against the press. That’s something that’s totally on me and I take full responsibility for it."
It all soured what had, up to Wednesday, been a strong start to Southeastern Conference play this season for the Bulldogs. MSU entered Wednesday having won three of its first four SEC games. The Bulldogs were trying to start 4-1 in league play for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
For much of the night, it looked like MSU (8-5, 3-2) was set to do just that. The Bulldogs led 33-23 at halftime and with 17:28 left in the game, State was up 40-27. It looked as though MSU might coast to a win. That's when things all fell apart for the Bulldogs.
Texas A&M (7-4, 2-3) strangled State's offense with the press the rest of the way. Offensively, the Aggies used a 13-0 run to tie the game at 40-all. Then, after MSU bounced back a bit and took a 50-44 lead, Texas A&M outscored State 12-5 the rest of the way.
Defending SEC Player of the Week Iverson Molinar led the Bulldogs with 16 points, but it wasn't enough to save MSU. Molinar, like the rest of his team, struggled mightily in the second half as he scored only four points over the final 20 minutes of action. No other Bulldog scored in double figures.
"We should’ve been attacking way more aggressively and looking to score against (the press)," Howland said.
Still, State had a chance to salvage the game late. MSU had the ball with only five seconds to play looking for a game-winning shot. However as the Bulldogs tried to advance the ball down the floor, the ball got away, the clock ran out and MSU never even got a shot up. The Texas A&M press won yet again.
"We were looking to get the ball to one of our two starting backcourts and let them attack as quickly and as fast as they could," Howland said of the closing sequence. "D.J. (Stewart) did that. He got the ball to Deivon (Smith) in the middle, which was really good. Deivon should have just shot the ball in that situation. I think he looked to pass. He had a shot in that situation. I thought we needed (Smith) in there instead of Jalen (Johnson) in case we couldn’t get it to either (Molinar) or D.J. to be able to get it up quick with the dribble. We had a chance to have a good look there and just didn’t take it."
And so instead, it was disappointment for State. A night with so much promise left the Bulldogs with one that got away.
"Give Texas A&M credit, they really fought and scratched and clawed," Howland said. "They hung in there with us and took advantage down the stretch.
"We’ve got to bounce back now after a bitter defeat (Wednesday) and get ready to play a very good Florida team on Saturday."
The Bulldogs and Gators are set for a 3 p.m. tip from Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday. The game is scheduled to be televised by ESPN2.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCES
MSU forward Tolu Smith
MSU head coach Ben Howland
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