In the hometown of Elvis, the Cowboys fell short of pulling off a king-sized upset.

Instead, McNeese struggled down the stretch, letting No. 25 Mississippi State wiggle off the hook in the closing moments Saturday in Tupelo, Mississippi.

The loss dropped the Cowboys to 5-5, while the Bulldogs improved to 9-1 with the win in Cadence Bank Arena. The game was played in Elvis Presley’s hometown as part of Magnolia Madness and had the feel of a tournament game between two teams that made last spring’s NCAA tourney.

“We played well for 36, 37 minutes,” said McNeese head coach Will Wade. “I feel like today was one of our best games.”

Playing one of the toughest schedules in program history, the Cowboys have struggled to finish halves and games. Despite having late shots for ties or wins, they have lost three of their last four.

“We have to finish,” said Wade. “We got a bunch of good shots, but we have to finish around the rim. 

“Some of that was their defense and their physicality. They really pressure you.”

The Cowboys were looking for their first win over a Top 25 team in program history, and with eight minutes remaining, they had the Bulldogs in their sights.

Sincere Parker’s 3-pointer gave the Cowobys a 55-50 lead, but Mississippi State scored the next five to tie the game. That’s when Parker struck again with another 3-pointer, as he finished with 16 points, 10 in the final nine minutes.

But McNeese made just one of its next eight shots while the Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run to lead 64-58 with 2:13 left. Another Parker 3-pointer cut that lead in half with 1:58 remaining.

Good defense gave the Cowboys two chances to cut that lead down, but Javohn Garcia missed a tough shot in the lane, and Christian Shumate missed a 3-point try from the top of the key with 44 seconds left. 

“That was an open shot that he can hit; it just didn’t go down,” said Wade.

RJ Melendez made two free throws after grabbing an offensive rebound with 9.8 seconds left to seal the game. McNeese had a chance to secure the rebound and have a final shot, but the ball bounded off the hands of Parker and Joe Charles and went right to Melendez.

Charles finished his best game as a Cowboy with a game-high 19 points. He missed the last game with a leg injury.

“I thought Joe played really well,” said Wade. “He looks like he is coming along.”

Two other Cowboys, Garcia and Brandon Murray, finished with 10 points each. Josh Hubbard was the only other Bulldog to reach double figures with 16.

Garcia’s layup with just four seconds left in the first half tied the game at 29 heading into the break. 

That came after the Bulldogs, after a rough start, found their range. After Branden Murray’s 3-pointer gave McNeese its biggest lead of the night at 24-16 with just 3:42 left in the half, Mississippi State got hot.

Thanks to a pair of 3-pointers each from Claudell Harris and then Hubbard, the Bulldogs went on a 13-3 run to take their first lead in over 16 minutes, 29-27.

Before that, Hubbard, Mississippi State’s leading scorer at 19 points a game, had not scored. Then, in 37 seconds, he gave his team the lead before Garcia evened things up, heading back into the locker room.

Shumate was limited to just eight minutes with some early fouls after getting off to a fast start with five points in the first six minutes. 

The Cowboys hit 9 of 22 3-point shots (41.5%) and outrebounded the bigger Bulldogs 39-35. However, Mississippi State made six more free throws than McNeese shot.

The Bulldogs hit 23 of 33 from the foul line, while the Cowboys ended the night just 10 of 17. 

“We have to make the free throws that we get,” said Wade. 

Still, the game did show progress in several areas for the Cowboys.

“I like where we are moving to,” said Wade. “We just have to make progress this week.”

The loss was the closest McNeese has come to toppling a ranked team since they lost to No. 20 Texas Tech on New Year’s Day 2010.

McNeese will play its final pre-Southland Conference game next Sunday, Dec. 22, when it travels to Lafayette to face the Ragin Cajuns. Saturday, Lamar blasted ULL 75-45 in the Cajundome.

The Cajuns (2-9) are just 1-2 against SLC teams this season.