The Machine was broken.
Inside Humphrey Coliseum, surrounded by 10,575 empty seats after Mississippi State's 76-51 win over UT-Martin on Nov. 28, 2015, Malik Newman felt the most alone he'd ever been.
Two weeks into his freshman season, the gravity of a decision he now regrets weighed heavily. The 6-foot-3 guard and head coach Ben Howland hadn't been on the same page since Newman shocked the college basketball world by choosing the Bulldogs over a handful of blue-blood programs, including his current team, the Kansas Jayhawks.
In that moment, Newman knew his time in Starkville was over before it ever truly began.