Mississippi State Can't Handle the Storm, Falls to Hurricanes

After a disappointing loss to Southern University Monday night, Mississippi State is still on the wrong side of the scoreboard, falling 105-79 to Miami in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

Gavin Ware and Craig Sword led the way for Mississippi State, both with 20 points. Malik Newman was behind them with 15 points.

From tip-off to the final whistle, Miami couldn't be stopped shooting the ball. The Hurricanes shot 62.5% (20-32) from the field in the 1st half and 53.8% (7-13) from the three point arc. They carried it over to the 2nd half, shooting 50% (14-28) from the field and also 50% from behind the arc (2-4).

Similar to the loss to Southern, Mississippi State was in major foul trouble. The Bulldogs committed 29 fouls in the contest, and Miami took advantage of them, shooting 73.7% (28-38) from the free throw stripe. Another recurring problem for MSU was turnovers. State turned the ball over 13 times, and Miami was able to produce 26 points off turnovers.

Mississippi State had no problem offensively, shooting 45.5% (30-66) from the field and 40.9% (9-22) from three. The problem that trumped all was the defense, giving up 105 points in this contest.

After a shaky start to his Bulldog career, Malik Newman was able to make a presence known. He shot 5-10 from the field, 4-8 from three, and 1-2 from the free throw line for 15 points.

Mississippi State drops to 1-2 on the year and is back in action against the winner of the Texas Tech-Utah game, Friday afternoon at 4 PM CT on ESPNU.