MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Howard's Hustlin' Tigers made a name for themselves this season with hard-nosed, aggressive defense.
Unfortunately, they didn't bring that same philosophy to MTSU's Murphy Center for their first game in the TSSAA State Tournament Thursday afternoon.
Facing the Liberty Tech Crusaders in the Class AA quarterfinals, Howard never really got untracked and got eliminated by a 61-50 final score.
Coach Walter "Moose" McGary was left scratching his head when the game ended.
"We just didn't show up. I don't understand why. This is the big stage here and we should have been ready to play our best game of the year, but we didn't.
"We pride ourselves on a hustling, aggressive style of defense, but today, my kids were just too passive. We got down and just didn't fight back. When we don't work hard on defense, our offense disappears.
"It was like we were sleep-walking out there. I tried my best to wake them up, but nothing worked. We got killed on the boards as the hustle just wasn't there.
"This is the third time in the last five years we've been here and had the same result. I just can't understand why," McGary added in his post-game comments.
Liberty raced to a 7-0 lead in the opening two minutes and had a 21-10 lead with 1:31 to play in the first quarter.
Quincy Jones nailed a 3 from the key and Demetre Young added two more 3s as Howard trimmed the difference to 23-19 at the first break.
Liberty's lead was 24-22 following a layup by Howard's Barry Griffin with 5:22 left in the half, but the Hustlin' Tigers went more than three minutes without scoring.
The Crusaders took advantage with a nine unanswered points.
Liberty's lead was 35-24 at intermission.
Howard never really made a run in the second half as the Crusaders appeared to be comfortable just trading buckets.
Howard got within nine points on two occasions in the fourth quarter, but the Crusaders hit nine free throws in the final two minutes to protect their double-digit lead.
Coach Arnett Bodenhamer watched his team remain unbeaten in state tournament play - they're 7-0 with back-to-back state titles in 2006-07 - but he wasn't necessarily happy with the way things turned out.
"We came in here today expecting to win, but we got complacent in the second half. I thought we played well in the first half, but we have to learn how to play four quarters.
"Today we had the will to win and we live to play another day, but I never felt comfortable in the second half," he added, his team now 28-8 overall.
"We made some free throws at the end as we finished strong. That helped us late in the game. At this point in the season, it's a matter of which team wants it the most. If we do what we do best better than what they do best, the score usually takes care of itself.
"I'm happy that we won, but I wasn't pleased with the second half. We seemed willing to trade baskets when I wanted us to increase the lead," Bodenhamer said matter of factly.
Tarius Johnson and DeAndre Barnette both scored 16 points to lead the Crusaders while Cordaro Williams was next with 15.
Chris Deloney was the only Howard player in double figures as he finished with 12. Young and Reginald Hemphill were next with nine apiece while Jones added eight before fouling out late.
Liberty won the rebound battle, 31-25. Johnson led the Crusaders with 11 boards while Griffin grabbed six and Deloney five for Howard.
Liberty finished at 54.3 percent from the field by hitting 19 of 35 shots while Howard was 19 of 47 for 40.4 percent.
Liberty 23 12 8 18 -- 61
Howard 19 5 9 17 -- 50
LIBERTY (61) - Anthony 8, Johnson 16, Williams 15, Cain 5, Barnette 16, Yeates 1, Graham, Day, Bobo, Blaylock.
HOWARD (50) - Jones 8, Griffin 2, Deloney 12, Young 9, Ross 8, Cameron, Pettaway, Hemphill 9, Suttles 2.
3-POINT GOALS: Liberty 5-13 (Cain, Barnette 2, Williams, Johnson); Howard 9-19 (Jones 2, Young 3, Ross 2, Hemphill 2).
(Email John Hunt at tnmoose2002@aol.com)