Mississippi State
7-16, 2-9
Missouri
18-6, 7-4
Missouri Turns Back Bulldogs In First SEC Showdown
February 14, 2013 | Men's Basketball
The Bulldogs went better than nine minutes without scoring to open the game and failed to recover as MSU dropped a 78-36 decision to Missouri in a Southeastern Conference men's basketball game played in the Humphrey Coliseum.
MSU recorded its lowest point total since scoring 36 points against George Washington in 1996.
"We weren't great defensively, but the root of our problem tonight was on the offensive end," MSU coach Rick Ray said. "We just couldn't make shots. We got shots we wanted but we couldn't make them. We fell down early and really struggled. Our offensive production was really the cause of our problems tonight."
During that nine-minute stretch, the Bulldogs missed 11 shots and quickly fell behind 14-0. The offensive struggles continued through a first half where MSU only managed 10 points.
A layup by Trivante Bloodman brought MSU within 23-8 with 5:00 left in the opening half. Again, MSU managed only one field goal for the remainder of the half and trailed 34-10 at the intermission.
In the opening half, the Bulldogs hit 4-of-25 shots from the field for 16 percent shooting. Colin Borchert broke up the shutout with a 3-point basket.
That would be the only 3-point make for MSU In the first half as the Bulldogs were 1-of-9 from long range and 1-of-6 from the foul line.
MSU (7-16 overall, 2-9 SEC) closed within 19 on a free throw by Roquez Johnson with 15:03 left in the half. Missouri (18-6, 7-4) scored the game's next 12 points to breeze to the victory.
"They came out strong ," said Bloodman, who led MSU with a career-high 13 points. "We didn't compete as well as we could have. They began hitting shots, but we couldn't make any. We sunk into a hole as a result."
For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 11 of 46 shots from the field (23.9 percent), 3 of 19 shots from 3-point range (15.8 percent) and 11 of 22 shots from the foul line (50.0 percent). The Tigers hit 31 of 58 shots from the field (53.4 percent), 9 of 20 shots from 3-point range (45.0 percent) and 7 of 10 shots from the foul line (70.0 percent).
Missouri held a 46-25 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had three assists and 15 turnovers, while the Tigers had 21 assists and 14 turnovers.
Keion Bell paced Missouri with 24 points. Jabari Brown added 20 points, while Laurence Bowers added 11 points.
MSU travels to Baton Rouge for a road contest with LSU Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. at the Maravich Assembly Center. The contest will be shown nationally on ESPNU.
