Is Miss State Playing Its Way Out Of The NCAA Tournament? 5 Takeaways From the Loss To Missouri

After a blowout loss to Missouri, Mississippi State has a ton of work to do. Here are five key takeaways from the game.

Feb 1, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Missouri Tigers forward Trent Pierce (11) grabs a loose ball against Mississippi State Bulldogs guard Shawn Jones Jr. (5) during the first half at Humphrey Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Wesley Hale-Imagn Images / Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

Missouri 88, Mississippi State 61

5. What the heck was THAT, Mississippi State?

The Alabama loss on Wednesday night was tough, but it shouldn’t have been THAT demoralizing - it was a great fight against a top five team in an 88-84 loss.

That shouldn’t have had anything to do with the what might be the worst loss of the season.

It’s not like Missouri ran the Bulldogs out of the gym. It hit the threes.

Mississippi State is now 1-5 against teams that make 40% or more from three.

4. Missouri is good, but …

It’s good.

It might not be as good as Auburn, or Tennessee, or Florida, or Kentucky, but it’s not far off. This is one of the most under-appreciated and - literally - underrated teams in college basketball. It’s been strong on the road, it’s getting better each week, and it’s 17-4 for a reason.

No, Mississippi State shouldn’t take this as a demoralizing loss because of the opponent. It’s more about how it happened. starting with ...

3. Again, Bulldogs GET THE DEFENSIVE REBOUND

The problems D-ing up from three are bad, the inability to hold up on the defensive boards is worse.

Mississippi State didn’t shoot well, and that’s part of the reason why it came up with 11 offensive rebounds. Missouri did shoot well, and it came up with ten.

That makes it four games in a row when the Bulldogs gave up double-digit offensive boards after giving up ten or more just four times in the previous 17 games.

2. Could Mississippi State really be playing itself out of the NCAA Tournament?

We're not there yet.

That’s a tad bit of a stretch even if Mississippi State can’t pull up out of this nosedive, but it sure as shoot isn’t the 4-seed some are projecting, and it’s definitely not playing like a top 25 team.

You can only groove so long in the metrics off of wins over McNeese State and Memphis.

Yes, the schedule has been tough, and yes, that's life in the SEC, but it’s not 2-5 in its last seven games and the two wins were in overtime. It’s 16-6 now with nine games to go. It HAS to get to 19 wins to be in, 20 to be a lock, and …

1. Now what for Mississippi State basketball?

This is when it was all supposed to kick in,

Missouri was the second game in a run of three home games in four dates, and with a winnable road game at Georgia up next.

Missouri was a must win. Georgia is a SUPER must win now with Florida, at Oklahoma, and at Alabama up next. The final three games against LSU, Texas, and at Arkansas aren’t awful, but the season is quickly slipping away.

Now for the bright side … whatever. It’s the regular season.

This was a horrible performance, but this is a strong, deep, dangerous Mississippi State team that needs a positive jolt. Work out the kinks over February, come up with a decent sowing in the SEC Tournament, and just get in.

This team has the stuff to do damage in the NCAA Tournament. It just has to lock that all down first.