No. 22 Mississippi State ended a slump of sorts, earning a major road win over No. 19 Ole Miss on Saturday to mount a clean sweep over its in-state foe.
The Bulldogs (18-7, 6-6 SEC) were well-rounded with five guys in double figures on the scoreboard as the Rebels (19-7, 8-5 SEC) went through the motions, resulting in an 81-71 final in favor of the visitors. Mississippi State came into the contest losing four of its last six, while Ole Miss lost just three of its most recent seven and earned two hard-fought wins on the road.
“We weren’t tired at all. We just weren’t aggressive,” Ole Miss guard Jaylen Murray said. “You’ve got to be aggressive to win, especially when playing against a team like Mississippi State… They’re playing for a lot. They have a chip on their shoulder. We came in and we thought it was going to be easy.”
Murray’s comments were rather reflective of the outcome. Mississippi State was the more physical team all night and capitalized against a team that looked lackadaisical, despite playing in front of a packed home audience. Regardless, both squads remain in a strong position to appear in the NCAA Tournament.
Game Recap
Josh Hubbard opened up the contest with a triple — one that Malik Dia promptly negated on the other end. Ole Miss jumped out to a 20-13 lead after a red-hot start and looked to be in prime form to start running away with the game.
But as they say, basketball is a game of runs, and Mississippi State punched back by effectively working the paint. Efforts by Michael Nwoko and KeyShawn Murphy kickstarted a 10-4 run to cut the Bulldogs’ deficit to a point with 5:56 left on the clock before ultimately flipping the scoreboard with just under three minutes remaining until halftime.
Ole Miss went the last three-and-a-half minutes without a successful field goal. Continuing to smell blood in the water, Mississippi State pounced. Eduardo Klafke missed a pair of free throws in the waning seconds of the half and Harris knocked down a triple to send the Bulldogs to the intermission with a 40-33 lead.
The Rebels worked back into the game with a Sean Pedulla triple cutting Mississippi State’s lead to four points at the 17:54 mark. Hubbard hit a neutralizing three and both squads went back and forth for the next few minutes. Then, it all went downhill for Ole Miss.
RJ Melendez hit a three and Shawn Jones, Jr. had a fastbreak dunk to cement a 19-4 run over the next six minutes, putting Mississippi State up 67-48. The Rebels did not entirely surrender. However, they were unable to cut the deficit to under double-digits, earning the Bulldogs a victory in enemy territory.
Impact Players
Melendez led the Bulldogs in scoring with 17 points. He also corralled five rebounds. Hubbard scored 14 points, Kugel amassed 11, and Harris and Murphy had 10 apiece. Matthews and Murphy had eight rebounds each.
Murray had 14 points and Pedulla scored 13 to lead the way for Ole Miss in the loss. Dia grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.
Deciding Factor
Rebounding continues to be the Achilles heel for Ole Miss, and Mississippi State exploited this, especially while playing more aggressively throughout the matchup.
On a night where neither team shot remarkably well, the Bulldogs gained traction by grabbing 12 more boards than their counterpart. Mississippi State also had 14 rebounds on the offensive glass, setting up 16 second-chance points.
Ole Miss won the turnover battle with two fewer giveaways. However, the Bulldogs had 15 points off of turnovers compared to 14 by the Rebels.
Coach’s Comments
Mississippi State frontman Chris Jans opened his presser admitting how this game troubled him ahead of tip-off, given how the two programs appeared to be trending in opposite directions. Nonetheless, he credited his squad’s togetherness and communication to earn a “get right” win in a rival’s arena.
“I certainly was very concerned about this game. I thought Ole Miss was playing a little bit better than we were. They came off two great road wins,” Jans said, adding what his team did to win. “Getting off to a decent start certainly helped. We handled their runs and our kids just stuck together and found a way to get it done on the road.”
For obvious reasons, Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard sang a different tune. Ahead of his presser, his entire starting lineup took the podium to field questions about the loss. Afterward, he acknowledged that Mississippi State was the more aggressive team and that he needs more from his guys in order to win SEC matchups.
“College basketball is a players’ game, and ultimately you have to have players show up to play. Ultimately where the coach fits in, it’s his responsibility to get the guys up to play,” Beard said. “I thought we had a lot of ‘softness’ to us today. That’s not easy for me to say. We’re not going to win every game, but we do have an objective that we’re not going to put an effort out there like I thought we did today.”
Next up
Mississippi State will return to Starkville to take on No. 8 Texas A&M on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT. Ole Miss, on the other hand, will have the midweek off and travel to Vanderbilt to take on the Commodores on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT.
As always, Rebel and Bulldog games are broadcast on various television outlets and aired on participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
