Mississippi State prevails despite four Govs in double figures

STARKVILLE, Mississippi — (ESPN CLARKSBVILLE) Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team got a chance to measure itself against a top-25 program in 18th-ranked Mississippi State. The still-youthful roster got a valuable learning experience in the 95-67 loss, but showed their mettle against one of the SEC’s dark horses.

Austin Peay didn’t just hold their own through most of the first half—the Govs gave as good as they got for much of the first 20 minutes, limiting Mississippi State’s number of quality looks. The Govs were particularly stingy when the Bulldogs tried their luck from beyond the arc—Mississippi State hit just 26.7 percent from deep in the first half.

At one point, the Governors looked poised to overtake their hosts, getting to within four points on a pair of free-throws from senior Chris Porter-Bunton with 4:37 remaining in the half. However, Mississippi State ripped off a 19-7 run to close the half, putting the Govs at a 50-34 deficit heading into the locker room.

Sophomore Terry Taylor (nine points) and senior Steve Harris (eight) combined for half of Austin Peay’s first-half output, hitting a combined 7-of-14 from the floor, and Austin Peay actually outrebounded the SEC giant, 17-16, over the first 20 minutes.

Early in the second half, the Govs were able to whittle the Mississippi State lead down to 10 on a five-point burst from Taylor, but they were never able to get the deficit back to single-digits again. Harris (five points) and sophomore Dayton Gum (eight) scored 13 of Austin Peay’s final 17 in a second half that went firmly in the Bulldogs favor.

Although the rebounding difference was negligible (35-34 in favor of the Bulldogs), Mississippi State’s size was noticeable in the paint. That’s where the Bulldogs outscored the Govs 54-34; the Govs were outscored in the paint just 14 times in 2017-18.

“I felt like we competed at certain moments in time, but we didn’t compete enough over a 40-minute game to beat a team as talented as Mississippi State on the road.”

“Well, stop fouling, number one. I felt like we didn’t read some of the things the way Mississippi State was guarding us. I felt like they were setting on top of some of our screens and we didn’t back cut. And we had no post presence, not one post player put any type of pressure on those guys at the rim and again, that’s my fault for accepting it.”

The Govs begin their southern journey with a stop in Tampa to take on American Athletic Conference foe USF. Austin Peay and the Bulls will do battle Monday, Nov. 12, with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m.