A Mississippi State Moment To Remember
January 19, 2025 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
Melendez block and clutch Kugel trey provide one of the biggest moments yet for Dawgs’ season.
STARKVILLE – It's impossible to know what awaits Mississippi State as the rest of this season unfolds.
A total of 13 league games plus the Southeastern Conference Tournament awaits. March Madness lies ahead. Along the upcoming journey, there'll surely be no shortage of highlights and unforgettable moments.
Yet around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night at Humphrey Coliseum, with the No. 15 Bulldogs fighting with all their might in overtime against archrival and No. 21 Ole Miss, State provided what might go down as this year's definitive sequence no matter what is yet to come.
If you somehow missed it, here's your quick recap. With under two minutes to go in overtime, the Rebels held a one-point lead. A fastbreak opportunity presented itself for Ole Miss when Sean Pedulla grabbed a loose ball around midcourt and passed ahead to teammate Matthew Murrell. A three-point Rebel advantage seemed inevitable. However, the hustle of State's RJ Melendez wouldn't allow it.
Melendez swatted Murrell's layup attempt from behind. Waiting below the basket was KeShawn Murphy, who heaved the ball to an open Josh Hubbard. The Dawgs suddenly had a numbers advantage and Hubbard saw Cameron Matthews sprinting towards the basket. Hubbard lofted what looked like an alley-oop to Matthews, but Matthews – quicker than a hiccup – decided to dish to a wide open Riley Kugel in the corner.
SWISH! Kugel drained a trey to give State a lead it wouldn't relinquish on the way to an 84-81 win.
THIS SEQUENCE >>> https://t.co/uLiORIgYlF pic.twitter.com/wyYm8mkOrt
— Mississippi State Men's Basketball (@HailStateMBK) January 19, 2025
In a span of six or seven seconds, every Bulldog on the court touched the basketball, likely saved the game and illustrated why this bunch has so much potential. Every one of these Dawgs are full of hustle and heart, letting everyone have a chance at heroics.
"It was a heck of an exchange," State head coach Chris Jans said. "You can argue it probably won the game."
There might not be too much of a dispute. The play undoubtedly flipped the script in this first-ever ranked meeting of Magnolia State rivals quicker than shifts in the always-unpredictable Mississippi weather.
Yet what made it all so special was that none of this was by luck. What happened over the course of these few game-altering ticks of the clock can be attributed to a bunch of guys with both an insatiable desire to win and unmatched basketball IQs.
Take for instance Matthews' description of his assist to Kugel. It wasn't so much what he saw as what he knew.
"I can' t lie, it was just instinctive," Matthews said. "I didn't even see Riley. I just felt like someone was in the corner. I guess I just wanted the three there."
Good thing someone was in the corner then, right Mook?
"Yeah, if there wasn't, I'd have probably got an earful on that one," Matthews said.
But someone was there. Matthews could sense it. And that someone was Kugel, who has become such an integral part of this team. His absence due to injury was certainly felt down the stretch against Kentucky a week ago and then again when he missed the entirety of the Auburn game in the midweek.
Against Ole Miss though, Kugel exploded back onto the scene, leading MSU with 21 points while also collecting three rebounds, notching a couple of assists and steals, and providing a block.
"I was itching to get back out there," Kugel said. "I was just glad to be there to hit some shots tonight."
None bigger than his last one.
"I knew we had to get a bucket there," Kugel said.
But to show the type of guys that are on this Bulldog team, Kugel gave the credit for his own dramatics to Matthews.
"It shows the type of player Cam is," Kugel said. "He could've probably easily finished it and dunked it. But he had trust in me to knock down the open shot."
Neither the Matthews assist or Kugel trey that shook Starkville would've been possible if not for the relentless effort of Melendez on the other end of the court to block Murrell's seemingly easy layup. In the blink of an eye, Melendez sent the sold-out Hump crowd from exasperation to jubilation.
"That play was unbelievable because, offensively, [Melendez] didn't have a great night," Jans said. "[But the block] was a heck of a play."
Melendez simply found a way to impact the game. It's just what he and all these guys do, up and down the roster, and it's what makes the upcoming weeks so promising. It's a totally-bought-in bunch of Bulldogs who put team over self.
Time will tell if Saturday serves as a springboard for Mississippi State to reach even greater heights. The reality is, in the ultra-tough SEC, there is little time to relish any victory.
But for at least a moment or two, Jans and his guys got to enjoy this one. Tuesday night in Tennessee with a chance to build on it all will come soon enough.
"I was happy for our guys, happy for our program and happy for the fans that were here and elsewhere," Jans said of Saturday's victory. "We talked with our guys about what this game meant for people in Starkville and everywhere…It was for the Bulldogs in our community and in our state."
