Bulldogs Lose 3rd Straight.

Mississippi State fell to 9-5 (0-1) after losing their conference opener at Tennessee. State trailed the entire game until 15:10 left in the 2nd half when they took the lead 58-56. Unfortunately they could not hold it as Lofton scored 11 points in the final 6:21 to lead Tennessee to the 92-84 victory.

This is a very frustrating loss to take. We'll get to why in a second, but first......I really do try and maintain a positive attitude about things. Always looking for that silver lining. I've had to force myself to do that alot with the Dawgs. ....I'm looking at you Croom. So after this loss was no different. So, lets take a gander at the positives.

This team played a pretty darn good game on the road against the 19th ranked team in the country. Far far better than they played at George Mason. (Not a bad loss though, right?? I mean, they were in the Final Four last year!!!......What? They're 0-3 in their conference? 0-3 in the CAA? Are you serious? I don't even know what the CAA stands for. God, we must suck.) Far better than they played against Missouri. cough....24 turnovers...cough. Another positive, Charles Rhodes decided to actually show up ready to play. After playing horribly for 3 or 4 games, he put up 15 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Now thats more like it. They'll need good play from him the rest of the season. Jamont Gordon was a monster. 25 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists. I mean, come on, seriously. And finally, only 14 turnovers.....actually that's not all that great generally speaking, but for this team, its terrific.

See look at that. Look at all the great things Mississippi State did in this game. Aren't you feeling better about the future already? Well before you do, let me mention why this loss was so frustrating. First, even with all the positives in the game, State still lost. They played a great game....and lost. .......Not good. Another problem, when I say they played a great game, I have been talking about the offense. The defense, not so much. Subpar would be the polite way to describe. And then there's those nasty old free throws. 10-19, 53% from the line. Way to go.

I don't know what to make of this team. It's very talented, it really is. They do alot of things well. The turnovers hurt them as well as the poor shooting from the stripe, but their is something else. I don't know what...I'll have to mull it over. Anyway, we got Ole Miss in The Hump on Wednesday. I cannot tell you how bad they need this game. There is more than state pride on the line.