MSU's rally falls short, but team shows growth at UK
LEXINGTON, Ky. - As true freshmen, Craig Sword, Gavin Ware and Fred Thomas left Rupp Arena with a 30-point loss. The following year, Kentucky handed the trio at 22-point defeat.
Thomas walked off the court Tuesday and clapped his hands.
The senior suffered another loss to the Wildcats, but the 80-74 result revealed the progress of the program for the 23,987 in attendance and the many more watching at home.
“Before the game, I told the guys we have to get one,” Sword said. “We fought hard, it didn’t come out the way we wanted to but we did what we needed to do to stay in it.”
Mississippi State traveled to the Bluegrass State with a .500 record through 14 games. Losses to Southern, UMKC and an 0-2 start in Southeastern Conference play led to questions surrounding the team’s improvement under Ben Howland.
A road trip to No. 14 Kentucky didn’t offer much optimism. The Wildcats had won eight straight in the series, including all seven games under John Calipari.
The three four-year seniors entered Rupp Arena with a 4-36 road record. They lost their three road games by an average of 15 points this year.
MSU (7-8, 0-3) opened this one differently. The Bulldogs made their first four shots and took a 5-0 lead.
“We just wanted to have a great start,” Malik Newman said. “We just came out playing hard with passion. We had a lot of energy.”
Kentucky (13-1, 3-1) responded with a 13-0 run after tying the game at 10-10. Mississippi State’s guards whittled the lead down to eight at halftime, highlighted by Sword’s six straight points.
Ware made the first bucket of the second half. Again, the Wildcats responded with a run, 14-0 this time.
The lead grew to 20 with 14:26 remaining. Another 20-plus point blowout appeared probable, until each team exchanged on-court shoves. Kentucky's Isaiah Briscoe and Tyler Ulis received technical fouls. MSU’s I.J. Ready received one as well.
“I think our guys got inspired by the scuffle that happened,” Howland said. “I didn’t see what happened, but I know our guys got inspired.”
MSU had already cut the lead to 12 prior to Ready making both technical free throws. Sword narrowed the deficit to eight on the ensuing possession with 6:25 remaining.
Mississippi State’s players asked Howland to switch defenses to man-to-man. It sparked a 17-9 run.
“Every day in practice, we always get into it with each other,” Sword said. "We always turn it up on defense. Once (the scuffle) happened we did it in the game.”
Thomas made two 3s in a span of less than three minutes. The senior had three total in his last three games. Each long-range shot pulled MSU within seven.
Freshman Quinndary Weatherspoon cut it to five, and Thomas’ runner sliced it to three with 35 seconds remaining. Kentucky made its free throws to cement the victory.
Sword fouled out with 20 points to lead MSU. Thomas didn’t miss a shot in 21 minutes and finished with eight points. Ware scored 11 to go with six rebounds.
Their careers won’t include a win at Rupp Arena. But optimism lied behind Thomas' gesture as Mississippi State walked to the locker room after the loss.
“The biggest consistency that I expect is just great fight and effort. That’s what we had,” Howland said. “That was really, really big for us. We’re right there. We’re not that far away.”
Contact Michael Bonner at mbonner@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @MikeBBonner on Twitter.
