Bulldogs fall to Bama at SEC Tourney as focus turns towards future

(NOTE: You can view Mississippi State guard Iverson Molinar’s full postgame press conference at the top of this page. To view head coach Ben Howland’s full postgame press conference, CLICK HERE.)

18 seconds.

That’s all the time it took for Alabama’s Jaden Shackelford to drill a 3-pointer on Friday and give the Crimson Tide a 3-0 lead over Mississippi State at the Southeastern Conference Tournament. And for the Bulldogs, it was pretty much all downhill from there.

MSU fell 85-48 to the No. 6 Tide. It was a lopsided loss that almost assuredly puts an end to State’s 2020-21 season. And it was a result that, quite frankly, was almost never in question from the time Friday’s game tipped off.

“We played (Alabama) twice before (earlier this season) and played them incredibly tough and had a chance to win both of those games,” Howland said. “That’s why it’s so frustrating to lose so poorly and so badly the way we did (Friday).”

Frustrating. It’s perhaps also a fitting word to describe the last few months for the Bulldogs. Not even factoring in the logistics of fighting through a basketball season with COVID-19 protocols in place, frustrations have been plentiful for MSU. 

From the season’s first two games, played without star guard Iverson Molinar as he dealt with COVID-19 issues, to a mid-season skid that saw MSU endure a 1-6 stretch in SEC play, to a thrilling win over Kentucky on Thursday that kept State alive in the conference tournament – it has been a year of highs, lows and what-might-have-beens for the Bulldogs.

On Friday though, there was nothing to second-guess. It was about as one-sided as it gets.

Alabama led 47-19 at halftime. Less than nine minutes into the game, the Crimson Tide was up by 10 points and led by double figures the rest of the day.

A whopping 13 3-pointers is primarily what carried Alabama. If that wasn’t enough though, the Bulldogs gave the Tide a little help with 18 turnovers that resulted in 30 more Alabama points. 

Not even factoring in the turnovers, State struggled mightily. The Bulldogs were only 1-for-19 on their own three-point attempts. They shot just 29 percent from the field overall. It was a good, old-fashioned whooping dealt out by the SEC’s regular season champion, who is now only two wins away from winning the league tournament as well.

“To get beat this badly was a bitter pill,” Howland said. “They are the best team in our league so give them credit.”

Jahvon Quinerly led Alabama with 14 points. Nine different Crimson Tide players had at least five points.

MSU was led By Iverson Molinar’s 18 points. Tolu Smith added 13. Only four other Bulldogs scored and none of them totaled more than six points.

Again, it was a rough day for MSU on almost all ends. But the question now is, now that it’s over, what does the future hold?

First things first, is State’s season indeed over? Most likely so. Howland admitted postgame there’s an outside shot the Bulldogs could get an invite to the NIT. Any realistic chance MSU gets in though seems more like only wishful thinking.

That leaves MSU looking ahead to 2021-22. And make no mistake, it’s a year the Bulldogs have high aspirations.

“There’s definitely a sense of urgency to have a really good season next year and get us back in the NCAA Tournament,” Howland said.

And it appears Howland will have the pieces to try and make dancing next year a reality. Molinar said postgame on Friday that he plans to return. The Bulldogs are also likely to bring back their other two leading scorers from this year’s team – Smith and D.J. Stewart.

Current freshmen Deivon Smith, Cameron Matthews and Derek Fountain will all have another year of experience under their belts and should be expected to be even better come November after debut seasons in which all showed flashes of being big-time pieces for MSU.

State’s most significant loss is expected to be longtime starting center Abdul Ado, though he said after Friday’s game he wasn’t sure what his future holds. He at least left the door cracked open for a possible return. Ado is a senior, but could come back as the NCAA isn’t counting this season against athletes’ eligibility due to all the COVID-19 issues.

But Ado did go through MSU’s ceremony honoring seniors earlier this season. All signs have pointed towards him moving on. 

Whether it’s with Ado or without, next season is a big one for the Bulldogs. That goes for Howland, who will head into his seventh season at MSU still with only one NCAA Tournament appearance under his belt. And it goes for the team as a whole as the players will be faced with the challenge of proving they can be better than being the inconsistent bunch they proved to be this past year.

There’s pressure. No doubt about it. But it doesn’t seem like it’s something that the veteran Howland is sweating.

“There’s always a sense of urgency,” Howland said.

In a transition year in which MSU was dealing with losing its top four scorers from 2019-20, this season’s urgency was perhaps…well..not quite as urgent. A degree of patience was certainly warranted as a young group of Bulldogs meshed together. But if feels like over the next 365 days, the urgency is ultra urgent.

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