Mississippi State
17-14,8-10SEC
Texas A&M
20-11,9-9SEC
State Drops Regular Season Finale At Texas A&M
March 05, 2022 | Men's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Mississippi State battled back from 19 points down during the early stages of second half to close its deficit to just three points in the closing moments, but the Bulldogs ultimately came out on the short end of a 67-64 decision against Texas A&M on Saturday at Reed Arena.
State (17-14, 8-10 SEC) outrebounded the Aggies 32-30 and also outshot Texas A&M by a 46 percent to 43 percent margin, but it wasn't quite enough for the Bulldogs to pull out the win in the regular season finale for both teams.
Tolu Smith provided a team-leading 18 points on a flawless 8-for-8 shooting effort, while Iverson Molinar tacked on 15 points and four assists. Off the bench, Andersson Garcia turned in a career-high 14 points coupled with six boards, three assists and two steals.
MSU played the final stretch of the game with the chance to capture victory, despite falling into a sizable hole earlier. The Bulldogs trailed 33-22 at halftime. Then, the Aggies stretched their lead to 44-25 with 14:19 remaining.
An 11-1 run got MSU right back in the game. Over a span of just over three minutes, D.J. Jeffries, Smith and Molinar all had baskets. Garcia had a couple of buckets, along with a free throw, to get the Bulldogs within nine points at 45-36.
The comeback continued. A Molinar jumper got State within one possession, 61-58 with 1:28 left to play, for the first time since midway through the first half. However, the Bulldogs got no closer.
Texas A&M sank four free throws over the game's final 26 seconds to hold off MSU.
FROM THE BENCH – COACH HOWLAND
"I'm really disappointed that we couldn't finish the job. When you get down 19, which we've done too often this last half of the year, it's hard to come back especially on the road. I'm really proud of the way our guys fought. I thought Andy [Andersson Garcia] and Cam [Cameron Matthews] gave us great minutes. I thought Shak [Shakeel Moore] did well during that period of time. I thought Tolu [Smith] played well offensively tonight. Ultimately, in the first half, their press and their pressure sped us up. We had way too many turnovers, nine in the first half. They came out and really got it going."
"We fought our way back into the game and had a chance. It was a one possession game with two minutes to go. [Tyrece] Radford went left when we knew that was the way he was going to go. Quenton Jackson drove in on us and dumped it off to the big for the foul that got them to the line. The regular season is now in the books, 8-10 in conference play is not what we expected or wanted. We have a whole new season coming ahead of us in Tampa. That's what I told the team, 17-14, 8-10 is not what we wanted, but we need to believe in ourselves and give it everything we've got Thursday night against South Carolina."
- Mississippi State stormed back from a 19-point deficit with just over 14 minutes to play. The Bulldogs cut the lead down to three points on four occasions inside the last 88 seconds. However, Texas A&M converted on all four of its free throw attempts during the last 26 seconds to hold onto the 67-64 decision.
- State finishes the regular season 17-14 overall and 8-10 in SEC action. The Bulldogs will face South Carolina in the 7-10 matchup during Thursday's SEC Tournament Second Round.
- 10 of the team's 14 losses have come versus NCAA NET Quad One opponents. Eight of those 10 losses have come on the road or at a neutral site. Also, eight have come by single digits.
- The Bulldogs dished out 15 assists on their 24 field goals. State connected for 22 of its 24 baskets on the interior en route to a 44-28 advantage in paint points.
- The Bulldogs won the battle of the boards, 32-30. State has outrebounded its opponent in 25 of 31 games during the regular season.
- As a unit, State shot 24-of-52 from the floor (46.2 percent), 1-of-4 from three-point range (25 percent) and 15-of-22 from the free throw line (68.2 percent).
Tolu Smith
- Fired in 12 of his team-leading 18 points during the second half.
- A perfect 8-of-8 from the field.
- Averaged 20.8 points per game over his last four outings.
- Pumped in double figures in 13 of his 18 outings this season and in 33 of 48 career games at Mississippi State.
- Shared the team lead with six rebounds
- Contributed 14 points, four assists and three rebounds.
- The 14 points enabled Molinar to pass Erick Dampier (1994-95-96) into 25th place on the program's all-time scoring list.
- Extended his streak to 31 consecutive games in double figures to start the season, the longest run to begin a season in program history.
- Secured seven points alongside three boards.
- An efficient 5-of-6 at the free throw line.
- The five free throws made matched a season's best.
- Andersson Garcia worked his way to a career-high 14 points to go along with six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
- Garcia has turned in 12 games of 5-plus rebounds, 11 games of 2-plus steals and 10 games with 2-plus assists on the season.
- Seven of Garcia's top eight scoring performances have come against SEC opponents.
- Garcia has notched 8.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game over his last six appearances.
- Cameron Matthews chipped in four rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
- For Matthews, it marked his 11th outing with multiple steals and his fifth performance with multiple blocks.
UP NEXT
Mississippi State will take on South Carolina during Thursday's SEC Tournament Second Round action hosted at Amalie Arena, the home of the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Tip time is slated for 5 p.m. CT televised by SEC Network and available online courtesy of the ESPN app and www.ESPN.com/watch.
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.
