Men’s Hoops Winning Streak Ended by Oklahoma, 63-62

Saturday, January 25

Oklahoma City, Okla. (Chesapeake Energy Arena)

1:00 PM

Mississippi State

12-7

Oklahoma

13-6

Mississippi State

Oklahoma

Men’s Hoops Winning Streak Ended by Oklahoma, 63-62

January 25, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score WATCH: Coach Howland Presser Box Score (PDF)Postgame Quotes (PDF)

by Mikaela Elizondo, Graduate Assistant/Communications

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma – After trailing for a majority of the contest, the Mississippi State men's basketball team was handed a tightly-contested 63-62 loss to Oklahoma after misfiring on a last-second shot attempt during Saturday's Big 12/SEC Challenge at Chesapeake Energy Arena, home of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Bulldogs (12-7) had their three-game winning streak snapped, while Oklahoma (13-6) has won five of its seven games in the Big 12/SEC Challenge since the 2013-14 season. Mississippi State also fell for the first time in four outings against the Sooners, all decided by single digits and a combined 17 points.

Robert Woodard II amassed a team-leading 15 points coupled with six rebounds followed by Tyson Carter's 14 points and two steals. D.J. Stewart Jr. fired in 10 of his 12 points during the second half and hauled down a career-best eight rebounds. The Bulldogs dropped to 8-1 on the season when Stewart Jr. has provided double figures.

The 14 points for Carter enabled him to move past Marckell Patterson (1999-2000-01-02) into 28th place on MSU's all-time scoring list. The senior also canned two treys in the contest, which allowed him to move past Timmy Bowers (2001-02-03-04) into fifth place for career three-pointers.

Reggie Perry was limited to seven points and six rebounds after he missed a majority of the first half due to foul trouble. He had his run of four straight games with a double-double, three consecutive via 20-point, 10-rebound efforts, come to a close.

Nick Weatherspoon turned in six points, three rebounds and two assists whereas Abdul Ado and Iverson Molinar rounded out the scoring for MSU with four points apiece. Ado chipped in five rebounds and a block.

For the contest, MSU hit 23-of-60 shots from the field (38.3 percent), 5-of-15 attempts from three-point range (33.3 percent) and 11-of-13 shots from the foul line (84.6 percent).

The Bulldogs had four assists and 11 turnovers, while Oklahoma had 14 assists and seven turnovers. State registered a 43-33 rebounding advantage which marked the fifth straight game the Bulldogs have won the battle of the boards by double figures.

Oklahoma shot 24-of-62 overall (38.7 percent), 7-of-23 on three-pointers (30.4 percent) and 8-of-12 at the charity stripe (66.7 percent). The Sooners received 18 points and six rebounds from Brady Manek and 13 points from Alondes Williams off the bench.

FROM THE BENCH WITH COACH HOWLAND
"Obviously for us, it's a very frustrating loss after a really good comeback. We came out, and I thought that their defense was terrific. We were really impatient offensively. We took a lot of quick shots and not really got the ball moving side to side. We played from behind the entire first half. I thought that we did a good job to cut it back to six. Then, they scored again to get it to eight going into halftime."

"I thought we had great energy starting the second half. We did a great job and really got on a run there, I think it was an 8-0 run to start the second half. I'm really proud of our team and the way they defended. We held them to 38 percent, and they did the same to us. I give them credit. They're a very well-coached and disciplined team on both ends of the floor. I thought number 15, [Alondes] Williams, gave them a huge lift today off the bench."

"I thought that our team showed a lot of heart and character. This loss is on me. I did a horrible job the last 15 seconds of the game not setting something up. Typically, you want to attack down one and get to the rim. We didn't have any timeouts left. That's what my goal was. We didn't work on that, though. We haven't had a special situation, so our players didn't understand that. I definitely should have called some type of ball screen late. This game is totally on my shoulders, in terms of us losing this game, because we did not get the shot that we wanted. Something going into the basket versus a jump shot where you have no chance to get fouled late in the game with the game on the line."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Facing an eight-point halftime hole, Mississippi State began the second half with eight straight points to pull even at 38-38 with 15:21 remaining. Robert Woodard II started the rally with a layup off a nice feed from Abdul Ado, and Reggie Perry provided the equalizer with a three-pointer off glass.

The two teams traded seven-point runs, and the score was knotted at 45-45 with 10:53 to go. State erased the seven-point deficit behind D.J. Stewart Jr., who knocked down a three-ball from the right corner and used a spin move to hit a contested runner through contact in the lane.

Oklahoma's De'Vion Harmon put the Sooners back ahead 56-51 at the 5:35 mark before the Bulldogs scored seven of the next eight points to take their only lead of the game. Once again, Stewart Jr. provided the spark with a traditional three-point play and a transition layup to make it 58-57 with 4:15 left.

The Sooners countered on their next two possessions with an Austin Reaves pullup jumper, and a Brady Manek two-handed dunk to bring the score to 63-59 with 2:19 remaining.

The lone basket down the stretch came from Tyson Carter who connected on a right wing three-pointer off a delayed fastbreak. Mississippi State had an opportunity to win at the buzzer, but Woodard II misfired on a midrange jumper at the top of the key as time expired.

Oklahoma held the Bulldogs without a field goal for the opening 4:40 of the contest and jumped out to a 5-0 advantage courtesy of a Manek trey and a bucket by Kristian Doolittle.

The Sooners stretched their lead into double figures at 17-7 with 10:48 remaining and took their largest advantage at 28-13 following a pair of Reaves free throws with 6:55 to go.

Trailing 30-17 at the 5:13 mark, Mississippi State found its rhythm behind 13 of the next 19 points to draw within 36-30 inside the final minute.

Carter fueled the charge with six points coupled with a Woodard II three-pointer. Then, Stewart Jr. drove baseline for a reverse layup, and Iverson Molinar hit a floater to make it 36-30.

Oklahoma took a 38-30 edge into the locker room as the Sooners hit eight of their 14 first half baskets inside the paint.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State returns to its SEC grind and faces Florida on Tuesday. Tip time is on-tap for 6 p.m. CT from Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. The game will be televised by ESPN2 and carried online courtesy of the Watch ESPN platform.

Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by searching 'HailStateMBK' on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.