No. 14 Mississippi State survives on the road, defeats South Carolina 63-60 in overtime

Riley Kugel had a team-high 15 points, including four free throws in the final 4.2 seconds of overtime, to help Mississippi State hold off South Carolina, 65-60, in overtime on Saturday.

With the win, the 14th-ranked Bulldogs improved to 16-4 overall and 4-3 in the SEC. South Carolina dropped to 10-10 overall and 0-7 in the SEC. It also marked State’s second win over South Carolina this month.

“There was a lot going on,” said Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans. “That end of the game took forever for everybody and we couldn’t get it over it quick enough. Everyone says it but it is difficult to win on the road. I don’t care what anyone’s record is. It doesn’t matter. We talked about this was going to be a hard game at some point and it got hard. You just got to find ways and it wasn’t pretty basketball. It was hard on the eyes for both teams.”

KeShawn Murphy had 13 points for Mississippi State while Josh Hubbard finished with 12 points and five assists. Claudell Harris and Michael Nwoko also finished in double digits for the Bulldogs with 11 points apiece.

Jamarii Thomas, who missed the previous four games with an injury, had a game-high 19 points, highlighted by a 10 of 12 showing at the foul line. Arden Conyers had 12 points for the Gamecocks and Collin Murray-Boyles had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Nick Pringle also had 12 rebounds for South Carolina, who outrebounded State 45-30 with 21 offensive boards.

Murphy was 6 of 9 from the field for the Bulldogs and also had two blocked shots and two steals.

“We just stuck with the script,” said Murphy. “We stuck together as a team and stuck with what our coaching staff told us and we pulled it off.

“I had a soft touch around the rim and just being around the rim. I couldn’t get many rebounds today but I helped around the rim.”

For the game, State shot 42% from the field and made 6 of 26 beyond the 3 point arc. The Bulldogs were 13 of 18 at the foul line and had 17 turnovers. South Carolina shot 29% from the floor and made 4 of 20 from 3 point territory. The Gamecocks ended up with 19 turnovers for the game and made 22 of 29 at the charity stripe.

Mississippi State appeared to have the game in hand late in the second half with a 48-34 lead. However, South Carolina responded with a 15-3 run and tied the game at 55-55 following a Zachary Davis steal and layup with 26 seconds left. The Bulldogs had a chance to win at the buzzer but Hubbard missed a runner in the lane to send the game into overtime.

Early in overtime, Hubbard broke a 57-57 tie with a pair of free throws and State never trailed the rest of the way. Murray-Boyles missed a pair of free throws with 7.1 seconds left in overtime and then Kugel iced the victory with four free throws in the final 4.2 seconds of overtime.

“What I thought we did better in the second half was, they were real aggressive on Josh like most people on the ball screens,” Jans added. “We started gashing out of it. We got Mike on a couple of rolls, got Murph on a couple of rolls and was able to facilitate that way. I thought the guys did a good job adjusting to their ball screens.”

Neither team could find much rhythm offensively in the first half but Mississippi State got off to a 13-5 start and never trailed in the first half. South Carolina had a 9-1 spurt that cut State’s lead to 21-20 only to see the Bulldogs close the half on a 7-0 run and a 28-20 halftime advantage.

State shot 44% in the opening half and made just 3 of 12 beyond the arc. The Bulldogs had nine turnovers in the half and made 3 of 4 at the foul line. State also held a slim 17-16 rebounding advantage in the first half.

South Carolina shot only 20% in the first half and made 1 of 9 from 3 point range. The Gamecocks, however, were 9 of 11 at the foul line and had seven first-half turnovers.

“It means a lot,” said RJ Melendez, who along with Shawn Jones led State with seven rebounds. “We needed a road win and we needed to get going on the win column. Should have sealed it earlier but we kept playing hard and came away with the road win.

“I’m just playing for the name on the front. I’m not playing for the name on the back. Just playing hard for my guys. My shot not going my way but it doesn’t matter. I just played hard on the defensive side and that’s what I came here to do.”

Up next

Mississippi State vs. Alabama on Wednesday at Humphrey Coliseum with an 8 p.m. tipoff on SEC Network – The Bulldogs face another Top 5 SEC foe and it will mark the first of two regular-season meetings with the Tide.