Dayton, Ohio – When Mississippi State basketball coach chris janes entered his team’s locker room after Tuesday 60–59 loss against Pittsburgh In the first four, guard Shaquille Moore was among the first players he saw.
With his junior guard missing a potential game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds, Jan kept his words of encouragement short.
“She was a heck of a look,” Jan told her.
“He gets it,” said Jan. “I don’t think he’s going to wear that long. I think anyone would be disappointed. But we all understand how it works, and it was very strange to see. I’m glad he had the look.” I felt really good when he got up, and I didn’t have a good angle, so I didn’t go through the process of figuring out if it was going in or not, but he’ll be fine.
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After Mississippi State (21-13) got the ball with 9.8 seconds left, Pitt’s Jamerius Burton hit a jumper to give the Panthers (23-11) a one-point lead.
Pitt took a timeout to set up its defense, which allowed fellow 11-seeded MSU to gain possession the entire length of the court. After a shot by forward Tolu Smith was blocked out of bounds, Jan took a timeout to draw the final play.
Jans said that coming from under the basket, guard Dashon Davis had options to throw alley-oops. Instead, he found Moore alone in the corner. However, Moore’s shot hit the rim – MSU’s 17th and the final miss from the deep in 23 attempts.
Smith said, “(Moore’s) shot wasn’t the reason we lost.” “It was other things that contributed to the loss. We had a great look at the end of the game, and sometimes the cards don’t turn in your favor. But I am very proud of this group.
Forward DJ Jefferies had a tip-in opportunity on an offensive rebound before time expired—another look Jans was pleased with—but didn’t drop it.
“At that point that’s all you can ask,” Jan said. “One chance – ball in the air to win an NCAA tournament game and still have enough time to get a put-back.”
Stephen Krajicnik is the Mississippi State Beat Writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @skrajisnik3,
This article was originally published on the Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State basketball: Chris Zain discusses the end vs. Pittsburgh
