Mississippi State: Bulldogs upended by Liberty in Round of 64

Mississippi State Basketball’s season was snuffed out by the Liberty Flames in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.

We hear all the time about how a player brings things to a team that doesn’t show up in the box score, Liberty junior forward Myo Baxter-Bell was the epitome of that for the Flames in their 80-76 upset of No. 5 Mississippi State Basketball Friday night. The 6-5 255lb. forward scored 13 points with four points and four rebounds but it was his intensity on the defensive end, crashing the glass and crashing on the floor for loose balls that invigorated his teammates, which was needed because leading scorer Scottie James was contained all night, registering just six points.

Caleb Homesley led two other Flames in double figures with a career-high 30, 22 of which came in the 2nd half, Lovell Cabbil, Jr. also had 18. The second half was for the first ten minutes when the game was tied at 53, but over the next 3:23 Mississippi State would go on a 10-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 63-53, led by Lamar Peters and Quinndary Weatherspoon who combined for 48 of the team’s 76 and freshman Robert Woodward was the only other Bulldog to score more than five, with 13.

After a Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay called a timeout, Homesley put the Flames on his back to get them back in the game. He made three free throws after being fouled on a shot attempt, then in the span of 17 seconds both Peters and Weatherspoon got called for their fourth fouls, and Homesley then connected on to more threes to give Liberty a 69-67 lead. Cabbil, Jr. would hit another three a few seconds later to regain the lead for Liberty 72-70, then a team that makes 77% of their free throws, would make seven in the final 30 seconds to put the finishing touches on the upset.

For the first 20 minutes, Mississippi State found themselves in a fight, entering halftime with a precarious 37-35 lead. Both teams had to shake off a bit of the nerves early as the Bulldogs led 7-2 at the first media timeout. That is when Baxter-Bell entered the game and injected immediate energy for Liberty with a bucket, a rebound, and an assist in his first minute, allowing the Flames to get it to a one-point deficit.

The Bulldogs would be unable to pull away for most of the half, as Liberty would get their footing and confidence as the half went on. Ben Howland’s team would lead by no more than six in the half and with 5:27 left in the half Homesley hit a three to give Liberty its first lead at 26-24. Liberty found itself with a 35-31 lead with two minutes left in the half but Mississippi State would end the half on a 6-0 run to take the two-point lead to the break.

No. 12 Liberty can now sit back and await the winner of No. 4 Virginia Tech and No. 13 St. Louis on Sunday while relishing the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win.