STARKVILLE, Miss — No. 5 Tennessee fell short against Mississippi State on the road on Wednesday, 77-72.
The Vols were powered by guard Zakai Zeigler early. He scored eight of the team's first ten points for UT as the Vols trailed 12-10 after the second media timeout.
The Vols went on a nearly six-minute drought in the first half, but the Bulldogs could only extend the lead to 16-11. Guard Dalton Knecht trimmed the lead to three after making a jumper to make the score 16-13 and ended the field goal drought for UT.
The Bulldogs went on an 8-1 run however to take a ten-point lead at 24-14. In the run came two three-pointers made by Josh Hubbard.
Mississippi State led 35-22 at halftime. Tennessee struggled shooting in the first half, going 33.3% overall from the field and 15.4% from three-point range.
The Bulldogs scored 12 points off of turnovers, including some timely three-pointers. The Bulldogs shot 50% from the field, led by Hubbard who scored 12 points and Tolu Smith who also had 12 points.
In the second half, the Vols quickly cut it to single digits. In about two minutes, Tennessee trimmed the deficit to 37-28 after Knecht threw down a dunk in transition.
Mississippi State got the lead back up to double-digits, but Tennessee got within seven points after Santiago Vescovi stole the ball and turned it into a layup to make the score 44-37 with 15:19 to go. The Bulldogs responded again with back-to-back buckets with a layup from Shawn Jones Jr. and a three-pointer from Hubbard to make it 49-37.
Then Knecht went off for Tennessee. He made back-to-back three-pointers then forced a steal. Zeigler made a three-pointer following that to cut the lead to 49-46 with 13:42 to go.
UT got within two points after Knecht made another three-pointer to make it 51-49.
Knecht had a monster slam dunk to make it 58-55. He tied the game at 62-62 after two free throws with 6:17 to go.
Mississippi State led 71-65 with 1:39 to go. Zeigler cut the deficit to four after a layup, then got a steal and scored again to make it 71-69 with 1:17 to go.
Tennessee tied it at 72-72 on a dunk from Knecht on an assist from Zeigler with 34 seconds to go. However, Mississippi State took a 75-72 lead after Smith hit an and one to make it 75-72 with 14 seconds left.
The Vols had a chance to tie it, but they turned it over which led to another bucket and the Bulldogs won.
Dalton Knecht and Zakai Zeigler combined for 54 of the Vols' 72 points.Knecht scored 26 of his 28 points in the second half. Hubbard had 25 points and Smith had 23 points for the Bulldogs.
UT falls to 11-4 on the season and 1-1 in SEC play.
