State avoids letdown and outlasts Prairie View, 91-84

It was a classic letdown performance by Mississippi State on Sunday that didn’t leave head coach Chris Jans in a good mood. But the Bulldogs found a way to hold off Prairie View with a 91-84 victory at Humphrey Coliseum, just a few days after State completely dismantled No. 18 Pittsburgh.

Josh Hubbard had 25 points and Claudell Harris added 21 to pace Mississippi State, who improved to 8-1. Shawn Jones had a season-high 11 points for the Bulldogs while RJ Melendez and Michael Nwoko each finished with 10 points. Nwoko also had 10 rebounds to collect his second straight double-double.

“It was not a very good performance, defensively, for sure,” Jans mentioned. “Combination of a bunch of different factors. They’ve got good players and when you give good players confidence, anything can happen. Some of it was that. Some of it was guys not being where they should be, positionally and technique. Confidence is something you search for all the time. When you got it, as a player and as a team, it can really help you. I think the early success they had against us gave their team confidence.”

After a mini-slump last month, Harris has been productive the past couple of games. On Sunday he was 6 of 9 from the field and 3 of 6 behind the arc.

“Just letting the game come to me,” said Harris. “I’ve got a lot of talented teammates and I see them work hard day-in and day-out. So really just trusting that, that they are going to make plays for themselves and make plays for me. I’m just focused on the defensive end and it just came to me tonight.”

Tied at the half, State managed to take a 48-46 lead early in the second half after a pair of Nwoko free throws. It marked State’s first lead since 10-9 early in the first half. The Panthers did manage to regain the lead at 65-64 following a Tanahj Pettway three but that would be their last lead of the night. The Bulldogs led by as many as 13 in the second half before settling for a seven-point victory.

Initially, it appeared that State senior Cameron Matthews was going to sit for Sunday’s game due to a minor foot injury. But with State in trouble early, Matthews played late in the first half despite not going through pre-game warmups. Matthews finished with six points, seven rebounds and six assists in 22 minutes of action.

“The situation was he’s been battling a foot injury for weeks,” said Jans of Matthews. “He was off Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and didn’t touch a ball for three days. It was all rehab and all rest and things of that nature. Certainly didn’t want to necessarily play him. But he was going to be available and we thought we needed him to win this game. So we told him to go get ready and certainly he had a big impact on the game.”

For the game, State shot 56% from the floor and made 11 of 26 from 3 point territory. The Bulldogs were 20 of 31 at the charity stripe and had 12 turnovers. State outrebounded the Panthers 35-22 and had 12 offensive boards.

Prairie View (1-8) also shot 56% from the floor and made 10 of 19 beyond the 3 point arc. The Panthers had 12 turnovers and made 12 of 20 at the foul line. Nick Anderson led the Panthers with 21 points while Pettway and Marcel Bryant had 20 and 19 points, respectively.

Last year the Bulldogs dropped a decision to SWAC foe Southern University at Humphrey Coliseum, which greatly affected their resume throughout the season. But thankfully, this year had a different end result.

“I’m not too happy about it,” Jones said. “That’s not us and what’s expected against that kind of team. But it’s basketball. We got to get better next week and play harder on defense next week in practice.

“Staying together and keeping each other involved. Just trying to do whatever we can to help each other win. I feel like last year we gave up and thought it would be a cakewalk. I feel like we came in and did the same thing this year. We just had a different mindset towards the end of the game of sticking together, staying together.

State was all out of whack for most of the first half while Prairie View was having their way, offensively. The visiting Panthers led 27-12 after a 13-0 run before the Bulldogs started to climb back into the game. State managed to tie the game at 44-44 at halftime thanks to Claudell Harris’ baseline jumper in the closing seconds of the half.

State shot 50% in the first half while making 6 of 17 beyond the 3 point arc. The Bulldogs were 10 of 16 at the foul line and both teams had five turnovers in the half. State also held a slim 17-16 rebounding advantage in the opening half.

Prairie View shot 59% in the first half and made 5 of 8 from 3 point range. The Panthers were also 7 of 14 from the charity stripe.

Up Next

Mississippi State vs. McNeese State in Tupelo on Saturday with a 5 p.m. tipoff. McNeese State is coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance last year but have struggled this season with a 5-4 start.