Mississippi State falls to No. 17 South Carolina in overtime to conclude regular season

For two weeks now, Mississippi State has been desperately searching for one more win to clinch the program’s second straight NCAA Tournament bid. After concluding the regular season Saturday at Humphrey Coliseum, that search continues into next week, unfortunately.

B.J. Mack had 25 points and Collin Murray-Boyles scored 19 to lead No. 17 South Carolina to a 93-89 overtime victory against Mississippi State on Saturday.

Mack had seven points in overtime for South Carolina (25-6, 13-5 Southeastern Conference), which improved to 2-0 this season in overtime games. Meechie Johnson had 16 points for the Gamecocks.

“The last three games have all been similar in the way they’ve unfolded from our perspective,” said Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans. “Auburn, (Texas) A&M and tonight against South Carolina, the difference in the margin throughout the game wasn’t as big but that theme of playing from behind and just fighting uphil all night long was the same.

“We were within striking distance throughout the game tonight. We just never had the upper hand all night long and I think we led for 17 seconds. When you do that, especially at home, you let that team get that extra confidence. Even in overtime, they win the tip and hit a 3. We just could never get ahead of them.”

Freshman Josh Hubbard had 28 points for the Bulldogs (19-12, 8-10), who dropped their fourth straight game. It marked the fifth straight game for Hubbard to score at least 20 points. Cameron Matthews had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Mississippi State. Dashawn Davis added 16 points and Tolu Smith had 14 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.

Of course, State has not finished the regular season with any kind of momentum and have now dropped four straight, which followed up a five-game winning streak. But the Bulldogs still have a lot left to play for next week in Nashville at the SEC Tournament.

“It’s frustrating to know it was right there in our hands but we couldn’t grasp it and get the win,” said Matthews. “We are all a group of adults and we know this game doesn’t make or break our season. We got a big tournament coming up – the SEC Tournament. We make a good run at that and everything is good. We got 24 hours to dwell on it and get back to work on Monday.”

In the closing seconds of regulation, Hubbard sank two free throws to tie the game at 75-75. Mack responded with two free throws of his own to give the Gamecocks a 77-75 advantage with 4.2 seconds remaining. Dashawn Davis would make two free throws, as well, with 1.4 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Overall, Mack and Murray-Boyles gave State trouble in the paint from start to finish. They combined to go 17 of 21 from the field and 8 of 9 from the foul line.

“They are both really good players and are skilled,” Matthews said of Mack and Murray-Boyles. “They have size and they know how to use their size really well. It is hard to manuever around them and not get silly fouls.”

For the game, State shot 50% from the floor and made 8 of 20 from 3 point territory. The Bulldogs were 19 of 25 at the foul line and had 12 tournovers. State outrebounded South Carolina 39-32, including 16 offensive rebounds.

The Gamecocks shot 48% from the field and made 9 of 28 behind the 3 point arc. South Carolina was 20 of 24 at the charity stripe and had eight turnovers.

“They told me this was the most regular-season wins in school history,” said South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris. “I didn’t know that so that was something to play for. We finished tied for second place and there is a lot of pride in this group. We played with a chip on our shoulders all season and one day they are going to say these guys are good. Maybe they will say it today and I am just so proud of these guys. And there was a lot to play for today.”

For the third straight game, Mississippi State has a slow start. South Carolina took a 17-8 lead after a Myles Stute 3-pointer with 12:48 remaining in the first half. The Bulldogs kept chipping away and would tie the game at 27-27 with 5:14 left in the opening half. South Carolina eventually took a 38-37 advantage at halftime.

With an NCAA Tournament berth possibly on the line, Mississippi State shifts its focus to the SEC Tournament. The Bulldogs will face LSU at noon on Thursday in the first round and face a Tiger squad that the Bulldogs easily handled in Baton Rouge, La., last month.

“Time will tell and right now that’s not what we’re thinking about,” added Jans. “We’re trying to process what happened today. We really didn’t talk about going forward right now and we will have plenty of time to regroup and get ready.”