On the surface, Utah’s 78-73 loss to Mississippi State stings a bit.
The Runnin’ Utes had their shot to beat a team that is currently a top 30 program in both the KenPom and Torvik ratings.
By those metrics, this is the toughest team Utah will face during its nonconference slate — and yet, the Utes nearly pulled off the win in a neutral-site environment at Landers Center in Southaven, Mississippi, just a couple hours from Mississippi State’s campus in Starkville.
“You know, a couple plays here or there and the score flips, and we’re super happy,” Utah coach Craig Smith said in his postgame interview on 700 AM. “This is a good team we just played tonight, and it’s that type of team we’re going to see in the Big 12.”
Utah ended up taking a 39-28 lead into halftime — and shut down the Mississippi State offense in the first half — but it couldn’t sustain that advantage, after the Bulldogs used a 22-5 run to start the second half before both teams took turns leading in the game’s final 10 minutes.
Mike Sharavjamts tied the game at 71-71 with a fadeaway jumper with 1:40 to play, but about 30 seconds of game time later, one of the contest’s biggest factors — free-throw shooting — came into play again, and it gave the Bulldogs enough of an edge in the final minute to earn the win.
Keanu Dawes, who had his best day as a Ute, fouled out with 1:13 to play. That sent Cameron Matthews to the free-throw line, where he made both shots to give Mississippi State a 73-71 lead.
On Utah’s ensuing possession, Hunter Erickson was called for an illegal screen, Utah’s 13th turnover of the day, and Ezra Ausar picked up a foul with 42 seconds remaining.
Again, Matthews hit two free throws to make it 75-71.
Ausar then missed a layup where he altered the shot to try and avoid contact, and the Bulldogs wrapped up the tight win from the line.
The Bulldogs made 24 of 33 free throws in the game, as Utah finished with 11 fouls more than Mississippi State. The Utes, meanwhile, hit 8 of 14 free throws.
“The hardest part is when your opponent shoots 33 free throws and you shoot 14 — it wasn’t ideal, for sure … but we have to just be even more fundamental and sounder and better positionally,” Smith said. “Because fouling, generally speaking, it’s either a bad call or it’s out of position, and we’ve just got to be better on that end.”
That helped offset the fact that Utah outshot the Bulldogs from the field — the Utes were 45.2% from the field and made 9 of 28 3-pointers, while Mississippi State shot 35.8% from the floor and made 6 of 25 3s.
In the game’s first 20 minutes, the Utes looked well on their way to an early-season resume building win.
Utah’s defense was spot-on, as the Utes held the Bulldogs to 22.9% shooting. Mississippi State missed its final 14 shots of the first half, and the Bulldogs’ star guard, Josh Hubbard, had just 3 points on 1 of 7 shooting.
The opening minutes of the second half, though, changed the complexion of the game, and the shifty Hubbard played a vital role in Mississippi State turning the momentum.
Hubbard scored 11 points during a 22-5 run for the Bulldogs to start the second half, as Mississippi State built a 50-44 lead before Utah finally got some things going again offensively.
From the 13:20 mark on, both teams took their turn putting together mini-runs or answering the opponent score for score.
Utah even held a brief four-point lead at 55-51, before Mississippi State quickly countered with five points to go back out in front.
With the Utes facing foul trouble throughout the second half, Utah couldn’t build back the double-digit lead they once held.
Instead, guys like Dawes, Sharavjamts, Jake Wahlin and Ausar had to be careful not to foul out, and that impacted the Utes’ rotation. Eventually, Dawes, Sharavjamts and Ausar all picked up their fifth foul.
It led to a thrilling, back-and-forth matchup where both teams found success in the post, while Hubbard took over with 20 second-half points and Utah had several players step up as the Utes’ leading scorer, Gabe Madsen, struggled to find his shot against the Bulldogs.
Hubbard ended the day with a game-high 23 points, while adding two assists. His post-playing teammate, KeShawn Murphy, added a career-high 18 points while shooting 5 of 12 from the field but 8 of 10 from the free-throw line.
Mississippi State, after its frigid shooting in the first half, shot 50% after halftime. The Bulldogs also were more successful on the boards, particularly with 17 offensive rebounds to 10 for Utah. That led to an 18-11 advantage for Mississippi State in second-chance points.
“I thought we really defended hard in the first half, second half was the polar opposite,” Smith said. “Not that we weren’t trying hard, but we were not nearly good enough, when they scored 50 points on 35 possessions, and in the first half, they only scored 28 points on 37 possessions.”
Hubbard alluded to the Bulldogs giving a more concerted effort in the second half to making hustle plays.
“We just had to be grimy. You know, at halftime, they were winning more 50-50 balls than us and outrebounding us,” he said during an ESPN2 postgame interview. “We’ve just got to defend, rebound, go get those 50-50 balls. Once we did that, things changed.”
Madsen finally got his only 3-pointer of the game to fall with 2:58 to play — he was 1 of 10 from outside — and that made it a 71-69 game, as the senior scored 9 points on a rare off day.
His twin brother, Mason Madsen, helped bridge the scoring gap, putting up 14 points and making a team-high four 3-pointers, while point guard Miro Little had another solid day with 10 points, a team-high six assists and four rebounds.
The story of the day for Utah was its post play, though.
Dawes and Ausar stepped up, as the shorthanded Utes continue to wait for Lawson Lovering and Zach Keller to be available.
The sophomore Dawes nearly had a double-double at halftime before finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds, to go along with a block and a steal as he made his presence felt on both ends of the floor.
Ausar, the Utes’ power forward transfer from East Carolina, showed just how much he can influence games against higher competition by attacking the paint consistently. While his field-goal shooting (4 of 13) was subpar in a contest where physicality inside defined the game, Ausar was able to get to the free-throw line more than any another Ute, making 7 of 10 from the stripe.
He also had four rebounds, two assists and a block.
Smith said one of the things he was most impressed with his team about was the fact that Utah was able to weather Mississippi State going on the 22-5 run, then fought its way back into the game and kept the contest going back-and-forth before Utah had its chances to win late.
The Utes will be the heavy favorites in their next three games — at home against Utah Tech, Mississippi Valley State and Eastern Washington — before Saint Mary’s comes to the Huntsman Center on Dec. 7.
The Gaels are currently ranked No. 42 by KenPom and No. 39 by Torvik.
Utah (3-1), conversely, is No. 54 in KenPom and No. 65 in Torvik.
Sunday’s performance, though, afforded the Utes some valuable lessons they can apply going forward, and perhaps will help when Utah has its next chance to earn a resume-building win.
“We had a golden opportunity. We didn’t seize the moment, but we have a lot of new guys, and we just got to keep growing together,” Smith said. “This team’s a smart, intelligent team, and I think we’re going to be a tough team. And so we’ve got to learn and keep moving forward with this thing, and I’m confident we will.”