Postgame Notes: MSU at No. 2 Alabama

TEAM NOTES

Mississippi State played its fourth Associated Press top 10 opponent during SEC action and is in the midst of facing four ranked opponents over a five-game stretch. The Bulldogs led tonight's contest for just under 30 minutes before ultimately falling 66-63 at No. 2 Alabama.
The three-point decision marked the smallest margin of victory in conference play for SEC frontrunner Alabama, who entered the contest with seven straight SEC wins of 10+ points.
State connected on six of its first 10 shots of the game to build a 12-4 advantage at the 14:46 mark. The Bulldogs stretched their advantage to as much as 11 points and grabbed a 20-9 edge with 9:01 remaining after consecutive layups from Tolu Smith.
Alabama pulled within 36-29 at halftime. The Crimson Tide took their first lead at 48-46 after nine consecutive points with 9:19 left.
Alabama went up 63-55 with 2:15 to go before State scored six of the last seven points down the stretch.
The Bulldogs had their game-tying three-point attempt blocked in the closing seconds as Alabama emerged with the three-point win.
Mississippi State has dropped six of its last seven in the series to Alabama over the last three seasons. The Crimson Tide have entered all seven games as a ranked opponent.
The Bulldogs hit 20 of their 26 field goals on the interior en route to a 40-26 advantage in paint points. State has scored more paint points than its opponents in 13 of 20 games.
The Maroon and White limited Alabama's high-octane offensive to five three-pointers, its lowest total in SEC action and its second-lowest total on the season.
As a team, the Bulldogs connected on 26-of-56 from the floor (46.4 percent), 3-of-15 from three-point territory (20.0 percent) and 8-of-12 from the free throw line (66.7 percent).
Conversely, Alabama was 21-of-57 on its shot attempts (36.8 percent), made 5-of-28 of its triples (17.9 percent) and were 19-of-22 at the charity stripe (86.4 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Tolu Smith

Sparked the Bulldogs with team-highs of 15 points and 7 rebounds.
10 of Smith's 15 points came in the first half.
Tallied his 15th outing this season and his 51st career outing in double figures.
Added three assists and a block.
Has recorded multiple assists in 7 games this season and 24 times over his career.
Started 70 of 71 career outings for MSU.
Moved to within 49 points of becoming the 6th MSU player since 2017-18 and 42nd player overall to reach 1,000 career points at State.

Dashawn Davis

Fired in a SEC season's best 14 points alongside of four rebounds, four steals and two dimes.
A flawless 5-for-5 at the free throw line.
Collected multiple steals for the fourth consecutive game, 8th time in 2022-23 and 21st occasion in his career.
The four steals also matched a season's best and a career-high.

Shakeel Moore

Made his first start of the season with 30 of his 32 career starts coming at State.
Tossed in five points, five rebounds and four assists.
Passed out 3+ assists for the 7th time this season and the 26th time in his career.

D.J. Jeffries

Filled the stats sheet with a solid all-around effort of nine points, seven rebounds, two blocks and an assist.
Drew to within 36 points from reaching 1,000 for his career
Hauled down 5+ rebounds in 13 games this season and for the 41st occasion in his career.
Recorded multiple blocks for the fourth occasion in 2022-23 and for the 19th time over his career.
Started 51 of his 54 career games at MSU

Cameron Matthews

Added six points, two assists and two steals.
Dished out multiple assists in 13 games in 2022-23 and 31 occasions over his career.
Collected 2+ steals for the 10th time this season, and the 29th occasion over his career.

Bench

Will McNair Jr. was State's leading scorer off the bench.
Contributed eight points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Tucked away three rebounds, a steal and a block.
Tyler Stevenson chipped in four points and three rebounds.

Postgame Notes: MSU at No. 2 Alabama

Players Mentioned

Dashawn Davis

D.J. Jeffries

Cameron Matthews

Will McNair Jr.

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

Tyler Stevenson

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: MSU at No. 2 Alabama

Players Mentioned

Dashawn Davis

D.J. Jeffries

Cameron Matthews

Will McNair Jr.

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

Tyler Stevenson

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