Mississippi State
17-9,5-8SEC
Kentucky
17-9,8-5SEC
Dawgs Come Up Just Short Against Kentucky
February 15, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
State nearly erased a 13-point second-half deficit.
STARKVILLE – In front of a packed and rowdy Humphrey Coliseum crowd, Mississippi State nearly erased a 13-point second half deficit before falling to Kentucky 71-68 on Wednesday night.
The Bulldogs trailed 56-43 with just over eight minutes remaining before a late rally got MSU within one in the closing seconds. However, State couldn't complete the comeback.
Kentucky's 38-22 rebounding edge which featured 18 offensive boards for 18 second-chance points proved decisive.
"That's the tale of the tape," Bulldogs head coach Chris Jans said of the Wildcats' rebounding success. "[Kentucky] is really good at it. We talked ad nauseum about it coming into the game…Obviously they were committed to the glass and they were really good.
"If you take out the rebounding numbers and look at everything else, I would feel pretty good about our chances [if I were looking at] a blind stat sheet or resume. I'd think, 'Oh, we probably won.' But obviously [the rebounding] was too much to overcome."
Mississippi State outshot Kentucky 50 percent to 45 percent and the Bulldogs had two fewer turnovers than the Wildcats. MSU also outscored Kentucky by 12 in the paint, but it wasn't enough.
Four Bulldogs scored in double figures in the defeat. Tolu Smith led the way with 22 points. Shakeel Moore added 14, Dashawn Davis totaled 13 and Cameron Matthews tallied 11. Matthews also brought down a team-high seven rebounds. It was also Matthews who sent one of the largest bolts of electricity through The Hump all night.
MSU was down by four points in the closing seconds of the first half. Matthews then gave the Bulldogs a jolt of momentum when he banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer, putting the Dawgs down just one at the intermission.
State kept the good times rolling out of the locker room. MSU scored six of the game's first eight points out of the break to claim a three-point lead.
From there though, Kentucky took control. An 18-2 Wildcat run changed the course of the evening. Kentucky went from behind 41-38 to up 56-43 and despite MSU's late charge, the Dawgs couldn't fully recover as their five-game winning streak came to an end.
State will look to start a new streak on Saturday. That's when the Bulldogs head to Ole Miss to renew the instate rivalry against the Rebels. Tipoff time at the Pavilion is set for 2:30 p.m.
