On a picture-perfect night in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, the Mississippi State Bulldogs took to Bridgestone Arena for round two of the Southeastern Conference Tournament against the Missouri Tigers. A win over Missouri on Thursday night would give the Bulldogs a second win in the 2025 Southeastern Conference and a date with the Florida Gators in the quarterfinal round, with a spot in the semi-finals up for grabs on Friday night. Thursday night would be the second meeting between the Bulldogs and Tigers, with the Missouri Tigers taking the first meeting in Starkville by a score of 88-61.

The first half between the Bulldogs and Tigers was about as even as it comes, with Missouri and Mississippi State battling like hell for a little bit of separation before the halftime break. Missouri hit a few buckets down the stretch to take a 39-34 lead to the locker room over Mississippi State.

At the break, Keshawn Murphy was leading the way in scoring for Mississippi State with nine points, Shawn Jones had eight, and Josh Hubbard brought up the rear with seven first-half points for the Bulldogs.

The start of the second half was more of the same as Missouri and Mississippi State battled without much separation. With 14:40 remaining, Missouri held a 43-42 lead over the Bulldogs. At the under-12 media timeout, Missouri led the Bulldogs 50-47. At the under-8 media timeout of the second half, Missouri and Mississippi State were deadlocked at 58-58, setting the scene for another insane finish at Bridgestone Arena. At the game’s final media timeout, Mizzou held on to a 71-69 lead over Mississippi State. In the end, the Missouri Tigers came away with an 85-73 victory over Mississippi State to advance to play Florida on Friday.

Josh Hubbard led the way for Mississippi State in scoring with 24 points.

It was a tough loss for the Bulldogs, but the season is far from over, as they still have an NCAA Tournament to look forward to. Get back to Starkville, get healthy and rested, then turn the attention to the NCAA Tournament, where the Bulldogs have all the pieces to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, including being battle-tested in the best conference in America.

Mississippi State will return to Starkville, where the Bulldogs will learn who and where they’ll play in the NCAA Tournament.

Photo Credits – Mississippi State Basketball on X