Turnover and Missed Free Throws Cost Mississippi State Men's Basketball vs. Ole Miss

Missed free throws at the last second closed the Bulldog's chance for a comeback victory against the Rebels and snapped their three-game win streak against their rivals.

It was a slugfest in Oxford, however, Mississippi State came up short against Ole Miss in an 86-82 loss.

Offensively, this was one of the best games that MSU has produced all season, and it was also one of the worst defensive ones as well. Ole Miss (18-3, SEC 5-3) had four of its players in double digits while two of them, Jaylen Murray and Matthew Murrell, scored 21 and 20 points respectively.

For Mississippi State (14-7, SEC 3-5) the story of the game was the costly turnovers that allowed the Rebels to keep pace in the first half that ended in a tie 39-39.

1A to Tolu Smith III on the offensive side, Josh Hubbard, was spectacular in the first half finishing with 16 points, three rebounds, and three assists but only scored five in the second half. He finished with 21 points and seven assists to a passionate and vocal crowd that still has a bitter taste in their mouths with Hubbard decommitting from Ole Miss and taking his talents to Starkville.

Starting the second half, the Bulldogs, outside of two free throws from Smith, went scoreless for five minutes. During the dry spell for MSU, the Rebels took advantage and led by as many as 11 and never trailed again.

Four Bulldogs were also in double digits, but their 1B in scoring, Smith, only had nine points. When he finally started to get it going, he got into foul trouble and sat for a large portion of the final five minutes of the game. He struggled to get going in the first half, looking labored in some of his movements but got comfortable too late when the team needed his inside work.

Dashawn Davis played his best game of the season finishing with 15 impactful points in only 16 minutes. There was more of an initiative for him to get involved with the offense by getting the rim easily and scoring many layups and two timely threes.

Shakeel Moore has played some of his best basketball in these back-to-back games with another game in double-figure scoring 14. He has started to settle into his role of being the third or fourth option for MSU but defensively, he has started to become a target as well in a similar fashion as Hubbard. 

Cameron Matthews was also impactful on both sides of the ball but his missed free throws with 4.1 seconds iced MSU from potentially tying the game and sending it to overtime. He finished with another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Another winnable loss slips out of the hands of Mississippi State as they travel to Tuscaloosa to take on No. 24 Alabama on Saturday (7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network).