Alabama fell to Mississippi State 81-62 on the road Tuesday night. The Crimson Tide (16-9, 6-5 SEC) was out rebounded by the Bulldogs 35-28 and also turned the ball over 18 times.

“You have to give credit to Mississippi State. The came out focused and energized,” Alabama head coach Avery Johnson said in a press release. “Coach [Ben] Howland did a great job getting his team ready to play tonight. This is a team that’s been ranked in the top-25 for most of the season and you see the reason why. They shot the ball well and [Lamar] Peters was hard to contain early in the game and Quindarry] Weatherspoon has been a terrific second half player over the last couple of games and he did it again tonight.

Mississippi State made Alabama pay for its sloppy control of the ball, scoring 28 points off turnovers. The Bulldogs also finished with 19 second-chance points.

Freshman Kira Lewis Jr. was the leading scorer for Alabama, finishing with 17 points. The Crimson Tide had three other players in double digits, including junior Tevin Mack with 13 points, junior Dazon Ingram added 12 points, and Donta Hall with 11 points.

Lamar Peters paced the Bulldogs in scoring with 22 points and Quindarry Weatherspoon posted 20 points. Mississippi State led for the entire game, shooting 49 percent from the field and 47 percent from beyond the arc.

Alabama will return to Coleman Coliseum for a matchup against Florida on Saturday at 1 p.m.