Why Mississippi State basketball isn’t blaming KeShawn Murphy for missed layup vs Alabama

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STARKVILLE — Mississippi State basketball looked like it had the perfect play to take the lead in the final 15 seconds Wednesday night.

The Bulldogs trailed Alabama by one point when forward KeShawn Murphy set a screen at the top of the key for Josh Hubbard. Murphy rolled to the hoop and both Alabama defenders went to Hubbard, leaving Murphy wide open under the basket.

Hubbard sent him the pass but Murphy’s layup was a touch too strong and missed off the back of the rim. No. 13 MSU (16-5, 4-4 SEC) went on to lose 88-84 at Humphrey Coliseum to No. 4 Alabama (18-3, 7-1), its seventh consecutive loss to the Crimson Tide.

Mississippi State coach Chris Jans was adamant afterward that the loss didn’t fall on Murphy, however.

“We’re definitely not going to point to that,” he said. “It’s the first thing I addressed when I walked in the locker room. This ain’t on you. There were a million plays in a game like that. There were plays after that. Even if he makes that shot, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to win the game. He obviously was distraught over it, and that’s not why we lost this game.”

After Murphy’s miss, the Crimson Tide made two free throws to make it 87-84 with 10 seconds remaining. MSU still had a chance to tie or take the lead.

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Jans didn’t call a timeout and the Bulldogs attempted a dribble handoff at the top of the key between Riley Kugel and Hubbard. The two of them fumbled the exchange and the ball deflected out of bounds. Hubbard, who scored a career-high 38 points, was charged with the turnover.

“A lot of people are going to say that he lost us the game, but that’s not true, man,” Hubbard said. “He competed at a high level. We were in that game because of him, actually. It was the possessions before that, the reason why we lost that game, in the first half especially.”

Murphy scored 18 points off the bench, tied for his second-most of the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-mississippi-state-basketball-isn-061435476.html

Author : The Clarion Ledger

Publish date : 2025-01-30 06:14:00

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