# 2013–14 Mississippi State Bulldogs basketball team

The 2013–14 Mississippi State Bulldogs basketball team represented Mississippi State University in the 2013–14 college basketball season. The team's head coach was Rick Ray, in his second season at Mississippi State. The team played their home games at the Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Mississippi, as a member of the Southeastern Conference.

## Before the season
### Departures

The Bulldogs lost three players from the 2012–13 squad.
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Jalen Steele | 0 | G | 6'3" | 194 | Junior | Knoxville, Tennessee | Left team after injuries; intended to transfer to Middle Tennessee but never played |
| Wendell Lewis | 5 | C | 6'9" | 253 | Senior | Selma, Alabama | Dismissed; Transferred to Alabama State |
| Baxter Price | 15 | G | 5'9" | 156 | Senior | Brandon, Mississippi | Graduated (Walk-on) |

### Recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Travis Daniels SF | Russellville, AL | Shelton State CC | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Oct 2, 2012 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Fallou Ndoye C | Henderson, NV | Findlay Prep | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Nov 13, 2012 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 69 ||||||
| I.J. Ready PG | Little Rock, AR | Parkview | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | May 10, 2012 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 74 ||||||
| De'Runnya Wilson SF | Birmingham, AL | Wenonah HS | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Jan 22, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: Not Ranked Rivals: Not Ranked ESPN: Not Ranked ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Mississippi State 2013 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 20, 2013. "2013 Mississippi State Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved August 20, 2013. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 20, 2013. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 20, 2013. "2013 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 20, 2013. ||||||

## Season
### Preseason

Head coach Rick Ray announced the Bulldogs' non-conference schedule on July 3, 2013. The Bulldogs scheduled to open the season at home against Prairie View A&M, with other notable non-conference games including a trip to Utah State, a home game against Florida Gulf Coast, and participating in the Las Vegas Classic. Ray announced the team's conference slate on August 20, 2013. The Bulldogs' SEC schedule was highlighted by a home-and-home series with Kentucky, including traveling to Rupp Arena to open conference play on January 8. Other notable games included a visit from Florida to Humphrey Coliseum and a road date at LSU.
On December 30, 2013 it was announced that guard Andre Applewhite would transfer.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Andre Applewhite | 2 | G | 6'5" | 217 | Redshirt Freshman | Memphis, Tennessee | Transferred |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference games ||||||
| 11/8/2013* 7:00 pm | Prairie View A&M | W 71–56 | 1–0 | Humphrey Coliseum (6,853) Starkville, MS |
| 11/14/2013* 7:00 pm | Kennesaw State | W 78–55 | 2–0 | Humphrey Coliseum (3,011) Starkville, MS |
| 11/19/2013* 7:00 pm | Mississippi Valley State | W 94–72 | 3–0 | Humphrey Coliseum (6,759) Starkville, MS |
| 11/23/2013* 6:00 pm | at Utah State | L 68–87 | 3–1 | Smith Spectrum (10,043) Logan, UT |
| 11/27/2013* 1:00 pm | Jackson State | W 58–56 | 4–1 | Humphrey Coliseum (6,776) Starkville, MS |
| 12/1/2013* 1:00 pm | Loyola–Chicago | W 65–64 $^{OT}$ | 5–1 | Humphrey Coliseum (6,010) Starkville, MS |
| 12/5/2013* 6:00 pm, ESPNU | TCU Big 12/SEC Challenge | L 61–71 | 5–2 | Humphrey Coliseum (6,795) Starkville, MS |
| 12/13/2013* 7:00 pm | vs. Southeastern Louisiana | W 68–62 | 6–2 | BancorpSouth Arena (2,035) Tupelo, MS |
| 12/17/2013* 7:00 pm | Florida A&M | W 78–65 | 7–2 | Humphrey Coliseum (5,803) Starkville, MS |
| 12/19/2013* 7:00 pm | Florida Gulf Coast | W 66–53 | 8–2 | Humphrey Coliseum (5,902) Starkville, MS |
| 12/22/2013* 7:00 pm | vs. South Florida Las Vegas Classic | W 71–66 | 9–2 | Orleans Arena (1,530) Paradise, NV |
| 12/23/2013* 7:00 pm, CBSSN | vs. UNLV Las Vegas Classic | L 66–82 | 9–3 | Orleans Arena (3,618) Paradise, NV |
| 1/2/2014* 7:00 pm | UMES | W 77–63 | 10–3 | Humphrey Coliseum (5,708) Starkville, MS |
| Conference games ||||||
| 1/8/2014 7:00 pm, SECN | at No. 14 Kentucky | L 63–85 | 10–4 (0–1) | Rupp Arena (23,638) Lexington, KY |
| 1/11/2014 3:00 pm, ESPNU | Ole Miss | W 76–72 | 11–4 (1–1) | Humphrey Coliseum (8,841) Starkville, MS |
| 1/15/2014 7:00 pm, SECN | at Alabama | L 61–80 | 11–5 (1–2) | Coleman Coliseum (10,112) Tuscaloosa, AL |
| 1/18/2014 11:30 am, SECN | Texas A&M | W 81–72 $^{OT}$ | 12–5 (2–2) | Humphrey Coliseum (7,073) Starkville, MS |
| 1/22/2014 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Auburn | W 82–74 | 13–5 (3–2) | Humphrey Coliseum (7,754) Starkville, MS |
| 1/25/2014 3:00 pm, SECN | at Ole Miss | L 63–82 | 13–6 (3–3) | Tad Smith Coliseum (8,843) Oxford, MS |
| 1/30/2014 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 3 Florida | L 51–62 | 13–7 (3–4) | Humphrey Coliseum (7,989) Starkville, MS |
| 2/1/2014 4:00 pm, FSN | at Vanderbilt | L 49–55 | 13–8 (3–5) | Memorial Gymnasium (9,170) Nashville, TN |
| 2/5/2014 8:00 pm, CSS | at Texas A&M | L 52–72 | 13–9 (3–6) | Reed Arena (4,626) College Station, TX |
| 2/8/2014 12:30 pm, SECN | No. 18 Kentucky | L 59–69 | 13–10 (3–7) | Humphrey Coliseum (8,417) Starkville, MS |
| 2/12/2014 8:00 pm, FSN | Georgia | L 55–75 | 13–11 (3–8) | Humphrey Coliseum (7,010) Starkville, MS |
| 2/15/2014 12:30 pm, SECN | at Auburn | L 82–92 | 13–12 (3–9) | Auburn Arena (6,890) Aurbun, AL |
| 2/19/2014 7:00 pm, SECN | at LSU | L 81–92 | 13–13 (3–10) | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (7,689) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 2/22/2014 3:00 pm, SECN | Arkansas | L 69–73 | 13–14 (3–11) | Humphrey Coliseum (6,981) Starkville, MS |
| 2/26/2014 7:00 pm, SECN | Tennessee | L 68–75 | 13–15 (3–12) | Humphrey Coliseum (6,161) Starkville, MS |
| 3/1/2014 12:30 pm, SECN | at Missouri | L 66–85 | 13–16 (3–13) | Mizzou Arena (9,403) Columbia, MO |
| 3/5/2014 6:00 pm, CSS | at Georgia | L 45–66 | 13–17 (3–14) | Stegeman Coliseum (5,165) Athens, GA |
| 3/8/2014 3:00 pm, SECN | South Carolina | L 62–74 | 13–18 (3–15) | Humphrey Coliseum (6,105) Starkville, MS |
| SEC tournament ||||||
| 3/12/2014 8:30 pm | vs. Vanderbilt First round | W 82–68 | 14–18 | Georgia Dome (7,132) Atlanta, GA |
| 3/13/2014 9:30 pm | vs. Ole Miss Second round | L 66–78 | 14–19 | Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||