No. 14 Bulldogs silence Vandy rally, take tough 76-64 road win in Nashville

NASHVILLE – On a night where home teams around the league were embarrassing the road teams, Mississippi State flipped the script.

The No. 14 Bulldogs started SEC play with a dominant 35-point win over South Carolina last Saturday. After a slow start on Tuesday night against Vanderbilt, State’s defense clamped down and led the charge in a 76-64 road win to stay unbeaten in league play.

Through 15 games, the 14-1 record is the best for the Bulldogs since 2003-04.

“Everybody talks about how hard it is to win on the road. I imagine before it’s over this year, it’s going to be extremely difficult because of the quality of teams that are in this league right now,” coach Chris Jans said. “(Vandy) showed their competitive toughness and wouldn’t go away. Proud of our guys for staying together, sticking with it and figuring out a way to win.”

Melendez, Matthews and Harris lift Bulldogs down the stretch

As has been the case for most of the season, the Bulldogs had players step up when others struggled. Josh Hubbard and Riley Kugel each had tough performances. Hubbard finished with his first single-digit scoring effort of the year with nine points on 3-of-9 shooting and just 1-of-5 from 3-point range. Kugel had zero points and three turnovers in nine minutes.

Leading the way was RJ Melendez with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting and seven rebounds, but Cameron Matthews made it all tick. The senior forward finished with 16 points on 6-of-11 with 4-of-4 makes from the free throw line. Matthews also finished with five rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

“(The defense) made the game easier for us,” Matthews said. “That’s our identity now. We’re getting our guys on board, trusting our techniques and getting back physical. Just playing defense.”

Additionally, State had 13 points from Claudell Harris Jr. and he hit a trio of 3-pointers to go along with seven rebounds.

In a first that could be described as muddy, the Bulldogs had a style of play that looked closer to what State fans saw in the previous two years under Jans. State was using its physical nature and the defense to lead the way and the final 5 minutes would get them where they needed to be.

In a one possession game, State closed the half with a 10-2 run and held the Commodores without points or a field goal for 5 minutes to take a 39-28 lead into the locker room.  

State followed that 10-2 run at the end of the half with one that started the second half. The Bulldogs would push the lead to its largest at 56-34 with 14:08 remaining and then the Commodores began to slow the game down.

Foul calls got Vandy to the line and took State’s catalyst, Matthews out with three fouls. From there, the home team began to chip away. Free throws and some big 3-pointers would suddenly close it to 65-60 with 4 minutes remaining.

Out of the timeout, the Bulldogs got the play of the night as Harris would hit a dagger 3-pointer with a hands in his face to push the lead back to 68-60. The defense and some big free throws down the stretch would give State the win as the Bulldogs took a huge victory inside a tough environment.

“I feel like we stayed poised. It got kind of loud in there, but I’ve got faith in my guys and they’ve got faith in me,” Matthews said. “We weathered the storm, made the right plays and came out with the W.

“It’s the best league in the country. Top to bottom it’s really great teams, really great coaches and really great players. It’s going to be a dogfight every night.”

The Bulldogs (14-1, 2-0 SEC) made 47% of their shots and hit 6-of-16 from 3-point range. State was also 16-of-19 from the free throw line. MSU turned the ball over 11 times with 13 forced turnovers and the Dores won the rebounding 38-36.

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The win for the Bulldogs came after two top 10 teams were dominated on the road. No. 1 Tennessee was decimated in a 73-43 loss and Georgia beat No. 6 Kentucky 82-69. State and Auburn would each take care of its own business with the Bulldogs being the only team with a double-digit road win.

Now, State will welcome in a UK team on Saturday that is looking to avoid back-to-back losses on the road. The Bulldogs are hosting the Wildcats in a sold-out Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

As great as the returns have been through the first two games, the Bulldogs are still a work in progress which could be bad news for a lot of college basketball.

“We’re still learning. We’re getting more and more comfortable with who we are,” Jans said. “We’re still trying to get a feel and moving people around but we’re getting better at understanding our parts and pieces and how they work together.”