SEC opener slips out of State's hands in 71-66 loss to Vandy

An opportunity was there for Mississippi State to get off to a great start in conference play on Thursday night and Vanderbilt seized it instead.

The Bulldogs’ inconsistencies on each end of the floor never allowed them to take control of the game and the Commodores came to Starkville and left with a 71-66 victory.

Vandy’s Iyana Moore ripped State for 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting and the ‘Dores held Bulldog center Jessika Carter to just six points in the game and she scored zero points over the final three quarters of play.  A 1-for-7 3-point shooting night from Jerkaila Jordan and 6-for-20 for the team also aided the loss.

“Welcome to the SEC,” head coach Sam Purcell said. “That was everything that I thought it would be. You had two teams fighting for March Madness and you could feel the energy in the building. I’m just disappointed that we couldn’t do our part. We had four great practices, but for whatever reason we weren’t dialed in on the defensive end.”

The Bulldogs were facing an uphill battle for most of the game with the exception of a nice run in the second quarter. After falling behind 18-14 in the first frame, State ran out to a 14-3 start in the second to bring the Humphrey Coliseum crowd to its feat and bring forth a timeout from Vandy coach Shea Ralph.

That run couldn’t be replicated from the Bulldogs, however, as the Dores responded with a 15-2 run of its own to take a seven-point deficit and turn it into a 36-30 lead late in the quarter.

Vandy had the lead throughout the third quarter and until around the 5 minute mark of the fourth quarter when Jerkaila Jordan made a bucket to tie the game up at 58-58.

Getting over the hump a challenge for State

A critical moment of the game came on the following possession when the Bulldogs gave up an offensive board that led to a 3-pointer for Vandy and the Dores were able to retake a 61-58 lead with 4:31 remaining. MSU wasn’t able to take back the game from there.  

MSU got the game to within one later in the quarter and had the ball with 14 seconds down by three points before turning the ball over without the team getting a shot off.

“We talked about a set play that we had. I’m a firm believer that you never lose a game to the last play. There are so many opportunities that when we go back, it’s going to be a tough film session,” Purcell said. “They came up with the 50/50 balls and we didn’t play scouting report defenses. It was just one of those nights.”

The Bulldogs (13-3, 0-1 SEC) turned the Dores over 20 times but still couldn’t overcome the visitors. Vandy shot 27-of-55 (49%) while the Bulldogs were 25-of-58 (43%). MSU scored 26 points off of turnovers but struggled in the halfcourt, specifically with its post players. Carter and Barnum combined for just eight points on 3-of-10 shooting.

“I just think they were very active as a defensive team. They made us see different types of defenses. Sometimes they were in zone, sometimes they would come trap,” Debreasha Powe said. “They just changed it up to keep us on our feet.”

Jordan led State with 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting and had five assists. Powe had 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting and kept the Bulldogs afloat when the team needed points in the third quarter. Darrione Rogers had 12 points off the bench with 3-of-5 makes from three.

Up Next

The road only gets tougher for the Bulldogs now. State goes to No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday for a 12 p.m. tipoff on ESPN. State will travel to Arkansas next Thursday and then play back-to-back home games against Ole Miss and Tennessee.

“I’m excited. If you’re a competitor, you love these moments,” Purcell said. “For us to be on ESPN at South Carolina, obviously we have a tall task at hand but I know that I’ve got a locker room full of fighters. My focus is on (Friday’s) film session. That’s uncharacteristic how we played (Thursday). Let’s get back to watching film, let’s get back to the basics and let’s put our best foot forward for four quarters and see how the chips fall on Sunday.”