Close Missouri State basketball losses vs. first-place teams shouldn't cut it anymore
Gone are the good feelings of a four-game winning streak in response to one of the roughest stretches in recent Missouri State men's basketball history.
A two-game losing streak will do that to you, no matter who or where the Bears played.
A 73-71 loss for Missouri State (14-11, 6-8) against the best team in the league, Indiana State (22-3, 13-1), could be seen as a welcomed surprise that the Bears were capable of keeping it that close.
But Missouri State should be beyond accepting moral victories, especially in a game it had many, many opportunities to win.
"We've still got a lot of basketball left to be played," sixth-year head coach Dana Ford said. "The issue is that you want to win winnable games or have a chance. You look at our game the other night (at Northern Iowa); we battled in that game, but we're not really concentrated on battling right now, right? We gotta win the game."
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Yes, the Bears showed fire and stayed within striking distance. Indiana State, a team with real at-large aspirations, had many stretches in which it couldn't make a 3 to save its life while being incapable of solving the Bears' zone. Potential MVC Player of the Year Robbie Avila was limited to 10 points on 3 of 11 shooting. The Bears' toughness under the basket turned into second-chance opportunities in which they had a 19-5 scoring advantage.
Still, the Bears couldn't get it done. In a finish that's all too familiar, they couldn't make the plays they needed to down the stretch nor get needed stops.
Indiana State did, and the Bears blew their biggest opportunity of the season.
"This was the No. 1 team," junior guard Alston Mason said. "It's not like we lost to someone that... we weren't really supposed to win. This is the No. 1 team. I know when we're 100%, we know what we're capable of. I think we can just learn from it, grow from it and keep this momentum that we had to learn and take into the next game."
Mason saying the loss was one the Bears "weren't really supposed to win" shouldn't be held too much against him. The Bears' leading scorer, who went for a game-high 26 points on Saturday, has been a respected leader in and outside the locker room. He's served as a great spokesperson for the team this season through the good and the bad.
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It's still a mindset that shouldn't be had, whether that's the belief in the locker room or not. Missouri State believes itself to be too talented to be in the position it's in this season. The program is too deep into a coaching regime to accept losses to teams atop the league.
This Missouri State team was supposed to be a team like Indiana State and challenge for a Valley title. Instead, the Bears have regressed by matching the number of MVC losses they had a year ago. There are still six games remaining.
Under Ford, the Bears have yet to have a losing record in Valley play, and there is a very real possibility that happens this season.
Missouri State and Murray State will enter Wednesday needing wins with both holding on to slivers of hope that they can secure a top-four seed in the conference and earn a first-round bye in the conference tournament. The Bears may need to win out when they still have multiple challenging games ahead.
MSU also needs to get healthy. Chance Moore surprisingly played Saturday after rolling his ankle in Wednesday's loss at Northern Iowa. He was limited on Saturday due to illness. Cesare Edwards is dealing with a sprained wrist and it appeared Damien Mayo Jr. reaggravated a knee injury he entered the game with.
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Mayo sat the final 8:51 with his knee wrapped. His presence late in the game could have made the difference, but others needed to step up.
Ford's ultimately right: There's a lot of season left. It could get better, it could get uglier or it can be the up-and-down roller coaster that Missouri State fans are used to.
He's also right that just battling and coming up short against good teams won't cut it. There are no moral victories to be had when the expectations are much higher than what's been shown this season.
"We gotta win these games," Ford said. "I don't have a doubt that group will be right back at it on Monday and Tuesday for wherever we go Wednesday (Murray State) and give ourselves an opportunity to win. But once we get in these positions to win, we've got to make these plays down the stretch."
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State basketball reacts to Indiana State loss
