Missouri couldn’t keep their energy up in the second half after competing in the first in their 75-51 loss to Mississippi State on Saturday at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers were outscored 45-25 in the final 20 minutes, leading to MU staying winless in Southeastern Conference play. The Bulldogs were hot as soon as the second half began. Shakeel Moore knocked down an open three-pointer 12 seconds into the half to extend MSU’s lead to 33-26.
Photo Cred: Missouri
Moore hit another shot from beyond the arc with 16:28 left to put the Bulldogs up double digits 38-28. The guard also stole the ball off of a pass from Jesus Carrelero Martin and found Tolu Smith III for a fast break layup. MSU scored ten straight points to turn the contest into a blowout. Dashawn Davis hit a three-pointer after Smith grabbed the offensive rebound.
Cameron Matthews, who finished the matchup with nine points, scored seven straight. Mathews dunked the ball to extend Mississippi State’s lead to 45-30 with 13:46 remaining in the game. The forward drew a foul on Connor Vanover for an and-1 layup. Matthews proceeded to hit the free throw. Josh Hubbard, who led the Bulldogs in scoring with 16 points, found Matthews for another dunk to stretch MSU’s lead to 50-30 with 12:40 left to play.
Photo Cred: Columbia Daily Tribune
Mississippi State never stopped. The Bulldogs went on a 13-2 run throughout 4:36 time period. Smith scored a layup on back-to-back offensive possessions to give MSU a 59-38 lead with 7:47 remaining. Hubbard drilled a three pointer off of Mathews’ assist with a little over six and half minutes left in the game. Redshirt sophomore forward KeShawn Murphy had a bucket in the paint a couple possessions later making the score 64-40. Jimmy Bell Jr. and Shawn Jones Jr. hit their free-throws on their trips to the charity stripe to give MSU a commanding 68-40 lead with 4:18 to go.
“We tried to fight, but we ran out of gas,” Missouri head coach Dennis Gates said. “We were a step too slow on everything in the first eight minutes of the half.”
MU guard Nick Honor explained that the team wasn’t able to respond to anything Mississippi State did in the second half. The former Clemson Tiger talked about how the Tigers weren’t able to get back up after being knocked down.
“We couldn’t hit back after being hit first,” Honor said. “They kept getting offensive rebounds, And-1’s, three-pointers and steals. We weren’t able to fight back.”
Photo Cred: Eagles Tribune
Besides Hubbard, Moore and Smith also finished the matchup in double figures. Moore knocked down all four shots from beyond the arc and finished with 14 points. Smith concluded the contest with 13 points and led Mississippi State in rebounding with 11. Bell had eight rebounds, and Matthews had seven.
Missouri shot just 30.4% from the field in the second half. Honor was the leading scorer for the Tigers with 15 points, on 11 of them coming in the first half. The guard knocked down three 3’s in the first half, including one with 34 seconds left to trim MU’s deficit to 30-26 at halftime. Bates finished the game with 11 points and six rebounds. Carter tallied seven points, seven rebounds and four assists.
