Bulldogs fall to Vanderbilt as MSU's struggles continue

MSU has now lost six of last seven SEC games

STARKVILLE, Miss. – In a season full of frustrating losses for Mississippi State, add yet another one to the list. And the latest is arguably the most disappointing of them all.

Facing a Vanderbilt team that came into Saturday having won only one of nine Southeastern Conference games, Mississippi State fell in lopsided fashion to the woeful Commodores, 72-51. It was a showing that left MSU guard Iverson Molinar convinced the Bulldogs have to somehow, someway soon, find another gear.

"I don't think it's a product of a young team growing up, I just think we have to come out there and play harder than we did the last couple of games and last couple of weeks," Molinar said. "We definitely showed (better performances the) first couple games (of the SEC schedule). That's how I feel. We have to come out there and play harder than we do right now."

Whatever MSU's issues of late may be, there is no questioning the unimpressive results. The Bulldogs (11-11, 5-8) have now lost six of their last seven SEC contests. MSU is now 2-6 in its last eight games overall with the only victories coming in a non-conference home win over Iowa State and a road triumph in league play against South Carolina.

And State isn't just suffering losses of late. The Bulldogs aren't even being all that competitive on many nights. They are 1-3 in SEC action this month with all three losses coming by 14 or more points. Given that, can State keep its collective head up moving forward this year?

"It's hard to stay positive when stuff is not going well," Molinar said. "It's really just having the right mindset. That's what I feel like we need to do – stay positive."

There wasn't all that much for State to be positive about though in the immediate aftermath of Saturday's loss. The Commodores frustrated the Bulldogs in multiple ways.

There was Vanderbilt's hot start from long range. The Commodores made 10 first-half 3-pointers, shooting 10-of-17 from deep. It resulted in the Bulldogs trailing 45-30 at halftime. MSU was then down by double figures the rest of the way.

Vanderbilt ended the game 13-for-30 from three-point range. Maxwell Evans and Scotty Pippen, Jr., led the Commodore charge. Evans and Pippen combined for eight treys. Evans finished with a game-high 20 points. Pippen totaled 18. 

Molinar led MSU offensively with 19 points. No other State player scored in double figures as the Bulldogs couldn't find a way to regroup after Vanderbilt's early three-point barrage.

Other things went wrong for MSU as well. The old turnover bug bit again. The Bulldogs committed 17 of them and Vanderbilt turned that into 19 points. Vanderbilt also out-rebounded State 36-27.

It was, by almost any measure, a whooping dished out from a Vanderbilt squad that is now just 6-10 overall and 2-8 in SEC action.

Now, the question becomes whether or not there will be any lasting impact? Can MSU keep the figurative snowball from rolling downhill even further? 

The Bulldogs' next game is in Auburn on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Between now and then, there is some soul searching to do in Starkville.

"We've got to come back together here and show some resolve to bounce back from this difficult week we just experienced," State head coach Ben Howland said.

(FOR FULL VIDEO OF HOWLAND'S POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE, CLICK HERE. YOU CAN WATCH MOLINAR'S FULL POSTGAME MEDIA SESSION WITH THE VIDEO AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE.)

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