Mississippi State Bulldogs at Alabama Crimson Tide
· NCAA Men's Basketball
69 - 90
Petty leads balanced attack as Alabama tops Mississippi St.
“We have to execute better offensively. I thought their defense definitely causes problems,” said Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland. “That’s two games in a row now where we haven’t shot above 40% after really having a good field goal percentage and efficiency rating coming into conference.”
Alabama (8-6, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) struggled from deep early on, making only three of its first 10 attempts. Petty caught fire in the second half making three of the teams five second-half 3-pointers.
Reggie Perry got off to a dominant start for the Bulldogs (9-5, 0-2), scoring seven of their first eight points. However, Perry was plagued by fouls and fouled out with 6:56 to go in the second half, finishing with 14 points.
With six lead changes, it was a game of runs in the first half. After Mississippi State took a 28-27 lead, Alabama ended the half on a 15-6 run to go up 42-34 at halftime.
The trend continued in the second half as the Crimson Tide opened with a 6-0 burst.
“I thought we went into the halftime on a run, came out of the halftime on a run, (and) kind of closed down any runs they made,” said Alabama head coach Nate Oats.
Falling behind by as many as 15, the Bulldogs cut the Alabama lead to six with 13 minutes to play, but were never able to retake the lead.
Nick Weatherspoon led the way offensively for the Bulldogs finishing with 20 points and four rebounds before also fouling out. Robert Woodard II added 14 points for Mississippi State.
For Alabama, Mississippi native Galin Smith tied a career-high with 11 points. Kira Lewis Jr. added 17 points and eight rebounds.
“It’s a big game for us coming off the Florida loss,” Smith said. “We put a lot of emphasis on rebounding and ending the game like we should have at Florida.”
BIG PICTURE
Mississippi State: The Bulldogs struggled to keep up with the Alabama 3-point shooting, shooting 27% from deep and only making 4-for-15.
Alabama: The Crimson Tide used balanced scoring to reach 90 points. Five different players finished with double digits.
UP NEXT
Mississippi State will try to pick up their first SEC win of the season on the road against LSU on Saturday.
Alabama looks to continue momentum and travels to Kentucky on Saturday.
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Recent Plays
| 2nd 0:00 | End of Game | 69 - 90 |
| 2nd 0:03 | Jaylen Forbes Defensive Rebound. | 69 - 90 |
| 2nd 0:03 | Robert Woodard II missed Jumper. | 69 - 90 |
| 2nd 0:13 | Abdul Ado Defensive Rebound. | 69 - 90 |
| 2nd 0:13 | Britton Johnson missed Three Point Jumper. | 69 - 90 |
Statistics
 MSST |
 ALA |
|
|---|---|---|
| 26-69 | FG | 28-57 |
| 38 | Field Goal % | 49 |
| 4-15 | 3PT | 10-24 |
| 27 | Three Point % | 42 |
| 13-21 | FT | 24-34 |
| 62 | Free Throw % | 71 |
| 38 | Rebounds | 42 |
| 15 | Offensive Rebounds | 10 |
| 23 | Defensive Rebounds | 32 |
| 9 | Assists | 14 |
| 5 | Steals | 3 |
| 3 | Blocks | 6 |
| 11 | Turnovers | 10 |
| 0 | Team Turnovers | 0 |
| 11 | Total Turnovers | 10 |
| 0 | Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Total Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Flagrant Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Points Off Turnovers | 0 |
| 0 | Fast Break Points | 0 |
| 0 | Points in Paint | 0 |
| 25 | Fouls | 17 |
| 3 | Largest Lead | 23 |
Game Information
Location: Tuscaloosa, AL
Attendance: 9,938 | Capacity:
2025-26 Southeastern Conference Standings
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVER |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 16-2 | - | 27-8 |
| Arkansas | 13-5 | 3 | 28-9 |
| Alabama | 13-5 | 3 | 25-10 |
| Vanderbilt | 11-7 | 5 | 27-9 |
| Tennessee | 11-7 | 5 | 25-12 |
| Texas A&M | 11-7 | 5 | 22-12 |
| Georgia | 10-8 | 6 | 22-11 |
| Kentucky | 10-8 | 6 | 22-14 |
| Missouri | 10-8 | 6 | 20-13 |
| Texas | 9-9 | 7 | 21-15 |
| Auburn | 7-11 | 9 | 22-16 |
| Oklahoma | 7-11 | 9 | 21-16 |
| Mississippi State | 5-13 | 11 | 13-19 |
| Ole Miss | 4-14 | 12 | 15-20 |
| South Carolina | 4-14 | 12 | 13-19 |
| LSU | 3-15 | 13 | 15-17 |