No. 25 Mississippi State pulls away to hand Nicholls men’s basketball team 74-61 loss

The Nicholls men’s basketball team has experienced games in the early part of the season in which it built big leads and had to rally from large deficits.

Against No. 25 Mississippi State in Starkville on Saturday afternoon, the Colonels were unable to rally back after falling behind by double digits in a 74-61 loss for Nicholls.

MSU remained unbeaten on the season at 6-0 while Nicholls fell to 3-4.

Nicholls cut a 12-point deficit in the first half down to four points but that was as close as the Colonels would as the Bulldogs rebuilt their lead to 12 points at halftime, 36-24.

Any serious run to get back in the game for Nicholls fizzled in the opening minutes of the second half.

MSU went on an 8-2 run less than three minutes into the second half to build an 18-point lead of 44-26 following a pair of Jimmy Bell free throws.

The biggest lead of the game for the Bulldogs was 23 points following a post move in the paint by Bell for a 70-47 lead with 5:56 left in the game.

Nicholls cut into the deficit in the closing minutes of the game, with a 3-pointer by Quinn Strander with 3.2 seconds making the final score 74-61. The 13-point final outcome was the closest the Colonels would get in the second half.

Jamal West had a game-high 17 points and 13 rebounds for Nicholls. Byron Ireland was the only double-figurer scorer for Nicholls with 10 points.

Josh Hubbard led Mississippi State with 15 points. Cameron Matthews had 12 points. Bell had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Nicholls hit 21 of 54 field goal attempts for 39 percent. Mississippi State was 26 of 61 for 43 percent. The Colonels were 6 of 30 from 3-point range for 30 percent, while the Bulldogs were 5 of 23 for 22 percent.

The Colonels committed 15 turnovers to 17 for the Bulldogs.

Nicholls was outrebounded 48-29. Mississippi State scored 20 second-chance points to only two for the Colonels.

Neither team shot well to open the game, leading to a low-scoring first half with Mississippi State on top 36-24 at the break.

The teams traded a pair of 3-pointers until a basket in the lane by Mississippi State’s Dashawn Davis gave the Bulldogs the lead and started a 7-0 run of a 13-6 advantage.

Despite a size disadvantage, the Colonels managed to keep the bigger Bulldogs out of the paint in the early going, with Mississippi State relying on outside shooting.

Mississippi State stretched its lead to 10 points before the Colonels cut into the deficit.

A layup by Michael Gray and a Gray free throw completed a three-point play, allowing Nicholls to trail 20-16 with 6:04 remaining in the opening half.

The four-point margin was as close as the Colonels would get down the stretch.

A dunk by Shakeel Moore with four seconds left in the first half gave Mississippi State it’s 36-24 lead, with the 12-point advantage equaling the Bulldogs’ biggest lead in the opening 20 minutes.

Mississippi State’s lead could have been larger, but the Bulldogs were only 5 of 11 from the free-throw line in the first half.

The Bulldogs scored 14 points off nine Nicholls turnovers in the first half.

Mississippi State out-rebounded Nicholls 23-17, including an 11-5 edge on the offensive boards, and a 12-2 spread on second-chance points.