STARKVILLE — After the final seconds ticked off in Mississippi State’s stunning loss to Alabama A&M Sunday afternoon, freshman Gavin Ware summed up his squad’s situation rather quickly.
“All we can do is move forward and go on from here,” Ware said.
The Bulldogs will try to bounce back from the sting of a horrifying loss tonight when MSU welcomes the University of New Orleans to Humphrey Coliseum.
MSU (4-7) built a 15-point lead in the first half of Sunday’s 59-57 defeat. Things quickly soured as the Bulldogs went better than 11 minutes without scoring a field goal.
“It’s disappointing because you don’t want to lose a home game,” MSU coach Rick Ray said. “You always want to defend your home court. We had played so well here.”
MSU is 3-1 at home this season. The Bulldogs had previously knocked off Florida Atlantic, Alcorn State and Texas-San Antonio.
New Orleans (3-8) has lost three straight and six of their last seven. The Privateers will be playing for the first time since a 67-51 loss to Boise State on Dec. 23.
For the Bulldogs, Ware has posted back-to-back double-doubles. The Starkville native has averaged 17 points and 12 rebounds in those contest.
MSU leads the all-time series, 7-1. However, the teams have not met since 2006. The Bulldogs are trying to avoid an eighth non-conference loss for the first time.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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