Atlanta - #21 Mississippi State's undefeated start to the season came to a devastating end Tuesday night in a 67-59 loss at Georgia Tech in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
The Yellow Jackets, who entered the game with a 2-2 record after back-to-back losses to UMass Lowell and Cincinnati, dominated Chris Jans' Bulldogs in all aspects of the game. Georgia Tech shot 34.4% from the field compared to 30.7% from the Bulldogs, and were led by shooting guard Miles Kelly with 22 points and 12 rebounds.
"I thought Georgia Tech played really, really well," Jans said. "They were well prepared. They took away some things that hadn't been taken away up until this point. They made us search for some different offensive looks. They just had a great start. They had momentum and their confidence grew."
Freshman point guard Josh Hubbard led the Bulldogs with 17 points off the bench, but made only 6/18 field goal attempts while Dashawn Davis scored 12 on 3/10 shooting. Jimmy Bell hauled in 13 rebounds, but struggled to get looks inside as he scored six points on 2/4 field goal attempts.
Mississippi State fell behind 39-26 at halftime despite only turning the ball over three times. They made only 10/33 field goal attempts, and allowed the Yellow Jackets to close the period on a 7-0 run. Florida transfer Kowacie Reeves knocked down a jumpshot and Kelly drilled a three from the top of the key before Mississippi State guard Shakeel Moore turned it over with five seconds left leading to a transition layup for Kyle Sturdivant as time expired.
The turnovers began to plague Mississippi State in the second half, as they gifted Georgia Tech six extra possessions in the first five minutes. As they tried to amount a comeback, the Bulldogs began to settle for three-pointers and finished they game converting 8/27 shots from downtown and making only 7/32 field goal attempts in the half.
"You work your tail off on the other end. You rebound and run, and then you gotta jump up and shoot the basketball," Jans said. "We definitely didn't have a very good shooting night. 7/32 isn't gonna win you a lot of games on the road."
The Bulldogs dropped ten spots from #19 to #29 in KenPom following the loss, and will likely see their names outside of next week's AP Top 25. Mississippi State returns to action on Sunday, where they'll be back in The Hump in a a game against Southern.
--------------------------------------------------------------
- Follow Bulldog Blitz on Twitter!
- Follow Bulldog Blitz on Instagram!
