By Ben Portnoy
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Mississippi State junior guard Lamar Peters’ face showed it all.
As Liberty redshirt junior guard Myo Baxter-Bell was fouled on a breakaway with just over three seconds remaining in Friday’s NCAA Tournament first-round game, Peters crouched in the backcourt with his hands over his head.
As he slowly motioned to stand up, he only reached a half-stance.
With a dejected face and tears forming in his eyes, Peters slowly stood up again and meandered toward his defensive side of the floor. Cinderella had spoken.
“At that moment I was just thinking about the season ending, like that will be my last time playing with (Quinndary Weatherspoon) and Aric (Holman) and T.J. Gray,” Peters said. “So it was like a lot going through my mind, processing a lot at that time.”
In MSU’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2009, the Bulldogs fell to the No. 12-seeded Flames, 80-76.
It was Liberty’s first-ever win in the NCAA Tournament.
“I mean, we had a lot of mistakes on defense, and I think we took some questionable shots, but, I mean, I love these guys, and I’d do the same thing over again with them,” senior guard Quinndary Weatherspoon said.
While Weatherspoon led the way with 27 points on 6-of-12 shooting, it was Peters, who tallied 21 points on the night, who mirrored the emotional subconscious of the MSU team throughout.
Each time the Bulldogs (23-11) appeared to pull away, the Flames bounced back. Thanks to a 7-of-16 shooting performance from behind the arc in the first half, Liberty continuously frustrated the MSU defense.
Peters’ outward displeasure persisted in the second half.
Watching MSU’s 10-point lead with 7:18 remaining shrink a deficit, he sat on the bench with four fouls.
Once more, Liberty redshirt junior Caleb Homesely, who finished with 30 points, drained a deep, contested 3-pointer from the top of the key.
Peters snapped his towel in frustration along the MSU bench.
“It all hurt, it’s a hard pill to swallow because we put in so much work coming into this moment,” Peters said. “And I felt like we played hard. Just a few mental breakdowns that we couldn’t control. But I had a fun time with these guys, and I love them, too.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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