Swain scored 34 points, but the Longhorns collapsed after he fouled out.
AUSTIN, Texas — The cosmic injustice of Texas Longhorns junior wing Dailyn Swain drawing at least one questionable whistle late in regulation to end the best performance of his career sunk head coach Sean Miller’s team in a 101-98 overtime loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs at the Moody Center on Saturday.
Swain scored 34 points on 10-of-18 shooting while making 12-of-15 attempts at the free-throw line, surpassing his previous career high set last year at Xavier against Illinois in the NCAA Tournament, but when he fouled out with 1:42 remaining and Texas up by seven points, the Longhorns collapsed down the stretch and were overmatched in overtime without the team’s most effective ball handler.
Afforded a chance to tie the game by drawing a foul with nine seconds left in overtime, Texas graduate guard Tramon Mark hit the first, but missed the second to seal the loss.
With Miller hoping to hold Mississippi State’s star guards Josh Hubbard and Jayden Epps under 40 combined points, Texas was unable to accomplish that feat defensively, in part through sheer volume — Hubbard needed 31 shots to score 38 points with the help of 12 made free throws and Epps was only marginally more efficient with 27 points on 21 shot attempts because he missed nine of his 12 three-point attempts. Combined, the Bulldog guards scored 64.4 percent of the team’s points by taking 68.4 percent of the team’s shot attempts.
Hubbard’s ability to get to the free-throw line for 15 attempts buoyed his 32.3-percent shooting from the floor as Texas struggled to defend him without fouling.
Issues on the defensive glass hurt the Longhorns, too — the Bulldogs secured 19 offensive rebounds, a rate of 45.2 percent, significantly higher than the team’s rate of 29.9 percent entering the game. Mississippi State converted those offensive rebounds into 21 second-chance points, a four-point edge in that category that defined the final margin.
Despite Mississippi State exploiting drop coverage by Texas on ball screens Hubbard hit two early threes, the Longhorns went into the first media timeout only trailing 11-9 behind two jumpers from Mark and five points from Swain, who hit a three.
A three-point spurt by sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis gave Texas a 12-11 lead, but another open three produced by a pick and roll and a defensive lapse after a made basket that resulted in a layup earned Mark a trip to the bench.
Inserting junior guard Simeon Wilcher into the game didn’t have the impact that Miller intended, as Wilcher turned the ball over trying to make an entry pass to graduate forward Lassina Traore from a poor angle and then committed a foul on a layup that produced a three-point play. Senior guard Jordan Pope followed suit the next possession, although the free throw wasn’t converted. When another defensive lapse produced a dunk, Miller used a 30-second timeout down 25-21 with 9:14 remaining in the first half.
The timeout called by the Texas head coach didn’t stem the momentum, as the Longhorns missed two threes, including one off the dribble by Mark, and gave up a jumper as the Bulldogs took their biggest lead of six points.
When Texas finally got a stop and got out in transition, the secondary break paid off when Swain showed off his physicality hitting a short pullup jumper to end a scoreless stretch of 4:27 and a 1-of-7 shooting stretch.
The inability to defend without fouling or limit penetration continued to hurt the Longhorns as the deficit extended to nine points, making it difficult to play with pace, but Texas was able to go on a 7-0 run when Swain hit another three, Vokietaitis made a free throw, and a transition opportunity resulted in an open corner three that Wilcher buried to force Mississippi State to use a timeout.
A turnover by Swain and poor defense by Wilcher that resulted in a layup sandwiched the final media timeout of the first half, although senior guard Chendall Weaver got active in transition, making a layup and another shot in the paint that drew a blocking foul and a free throw that missed.
In a sequence that illustrated Texas’ inability to play well on both ends of the court, Traore hit Mark on a nice back cut for a dunk before the Longhorns gave up another layup through contact. Swain’s strength then showed up again converting at the rim, but not at the foul line.
On the next possession, Vokietaitis had a mismatch at the rim, but Texas couldn’t get the angle right for an entry pass, so Swain ended up settling for a missed three from the corner. Vokeitaitis took advantage enough to draw a foul on the loose ball before splitting his trip to the line.
When the Longhorns finally switched a screen, Traore defended the driving guard well enough to force a miss, but the mismatch down low created a putback. On the final offensive possession by the Bulldogs, Wilcher fouled Hubbard on a tough jump shot, extending the Mississippi State lead to 48-43 at halftime after Hubbard made both.
The Longhorns did start the second half with enough defensive fortitude to force a shot-clock violation and enough of an offensive plan to get Vokietaitis a touch on the block and a finish to show for it. Vokietaitis got to the line for two free throws and Swain drove for a dunk in a solid offensive start for Texas, but a missed free throw was knocked into the basket by the Longhorns without any Bulldogs players around the ball, the type of unforced error that overshadowed forcing five straight missed shots by Mississippi State to start the second half.
After surviving the first half without committing any personal fouls in 14 minutes of playing time, Vokietaitis picked up two in 30 seconds of game time, the second coming as he both hooked and was hooked by a Mississippi State player, a call that was turned into a double technical. Vokietaitis picked up another foul less than 10 seconds later trying to keep a missed shot alive for his teammate, forcing him to the bench.
The fouls came during a 7-0 run by the Bulldogs that broke a 52-52 tie and wasn’t stopped until Swain got to the rim off the bounce and forced a foul that produced one made free throw. The Moody Center came to its feet for the first time after made jumpers by Pope and Mark, but the Longhorns promptly allowed a layup and Swain missed Pope open on the wing in transition, making the pass late enough that the ensuing three-point attempt was blocked out of bounds to send the game into the under-12 timeout tied 61-61.
After Vokietaitis drew a loose-ball foul on the defensive end and hit both free throws with Texas into the bonus, the Horns weren’t able to come up with two defensive rebounds, ultimately leading to two made free throws for the Bulldogs. Texas responded when Swain found Weaver in the corner for an open three and got into the lane in transition for a three-point play.
Perhaps the highlight of game for the Longhorns came when Vokietaitis got a touch on the left elbow and spun that direction for a resounding dunk.
In a close game, plays like Pope scoring over two defenders on the fast break and Swain getting called for a foul instead of securing a steal felt like big plays, as did Swain once again getting to the line and hitting two free throws and Weaver hustling to keep a ball alive that led to Swain drawing a foul, splitting the trip.
Texas matched its largest lead of the game at four points when Swain secured a defensive rebound, made an outlet to Pope, and ran the court for an alley-oop slam, forcing a Mississippi State timeout with 3:31 remaining.
Out of the timeout, however, Pope committed a foul on a three-point shot late in the shot clock, a deflating whistle that sent the game into the final media timeout and resulted in three made free throws. Mark responded on the other end, dribbling into a made three behind a screen from Vokietaitis. Back on defense, Texas wasn’t made to pay for a questionable whistle on Swain when Hubbard missed two free throws.
Swain continued his takeover of the game, using a pump fake to create another three-point play. But a second soft whistle on Swain was his fifth foul, sending him to the bench at a critical moment in the game.
With Swain out, Mark settled for a contested jump shot off the dribble that not only missed, but also led to a three by Mississippi State on the other end to cut the Texas lead to two and cause Miller to use a timeout with 50.2 seconds left.
The questionable shot selection continued when Pope took a contested three off the bounce, and the inability to secure a defensive rebound resulted in a second-chance basket to tie the game. When Pope was unable to hit the game-winning jump shot with two seconds remaining, the game went into overtime.
With Mississippi State having grabbed the momentum, opening the overtime period with Hubbard’s driving layup only consolidated it, although getting the ball to Vokietaitis paid off with two free throws. Defensive rebounding issues surfaced again and led to a three-point play for Epps on the second-chance opportunity. Trying to create separation for a dribble handoff, Wilcher lost his cool and pushed the defender, drawing a whistle for the offensive foul.
A turnover by Vokietaitis led to a five-point lead for Mississippi State on a transition alley oop and two trips to the free-throw line for the Texas center didn’t make a difference because Hubbard drew a questionable foul call on Weaver for a three-point play.
Remarkably, Texas tied the game after having a goaltending call reversed when Mark hit a three and came up with a steal and finish to make it 96-96 with 51 seconds left.
A three by Hubbard against a switch by Traore gave control of the game back to Mississippi State, and Mark split a trip to the line before an effective trap at halfcourt forced a turnover by the Bulldogs with 22.1 seconds left and a chance to take the final shot. Driving to his strong left hand, Mark drew a foul and floated in the first free throw, but missed the second, forcing Texas to foul Hubbard, who made both. An off-balance shot by Wilcher at the buzzer missed badly and the Longhorns dropped the must-win game.
Texas heads on the road for games against No. 19 Tennessee and No. 14 Alabama starting on Tuesday in Knoxville.
Category: General Sports
