STARKVILLE — In a surprisingly tight victory, the Mississippi State men’s basketball found a flaw it will need to fix before opponents get a book on them.
MSU realized Monday in a season-opening 76-66 victory against Eastern Kentucky that it could be prone to confusion and long scoring droughts against zone defenses.
MSU opened its 100th season in program history by leading nearly the entire way but never by more than 12 in front of an anxious 6,516 fans at Humphrey Coliseum.
“They play a 1-3-1 (zone defense) and that’s just different now,” MSU coach Rick Stansbury said. “We didn’t get many run outs and they control that ball offensively and make you work.”
EKU, which finished 15-16 last year and was picked to finish seventh in the 11-team Ohio Valley Conference this season, waited 27 minutes before showcasing its 1-3-1 half-court trap. It started the game trying to rotate a man defense and a 2-3 zone in the first half.
MSU senior point guard Dee Bost had a game-high 23 points, but his perimeter defense was equally important. He held junior point guard Mike DiNunno to 4-for-17 shooting from the field and 2 of 11 from beyond the 3-point arc. DiNunno sat out all of last season after transferring from Northern Illinois, where he averaged 9.5 points per game in a two-year stint.
“I turned the ball over too many times (five turnovers Monday), so I needed to give myself and my team a spark of energy,” Bost said. “We knew this team could shoot threes, so we really had to step up our defense.”
MSU built a 20-8 lead as EKU was 3-for-12 from the field to start the game. EKU struggled despite rotating the ball rotations and getting open looks on the perimeter.
MSU closed the run with a steal at halfcourt and layup by junior forward Wendell Lewis that forced coach Jeff Neubauer to call his first timeout of the season. From that moment, Neubauer got his team back in the contest with a 2-3 zone defense that confused MSU and forced it to settle for long-range perimeter jump shots late in the shot clock.
“Our whole mentality coming into this game was we wanted to guard them differently on every trip,” Neubauer said.
Stansbury talked all offseason about how his new players would be able to use the dribble to get to the basket more often than last year, but EKU’s style of play forced MSU into one-and-out possessions just like other teams have done in previous seasons.
EKU came to Starkville with three starters who were making their first appearance in the program. Neubauer said the lack of experience was key.
“Against a team of this caliber, we have to execute our system really, really well, and I hope there’s some things schematically we do better next week and next month that we didn’t do perfectly tonight,” Neubauer said.
Joshua Jones (13 points) led the Colonels, who had four players in double figures and three who converted multiple 3-pointers.
“In the second half we started hitting shots and it reflected in our defense and in our rebounding,” Jones said. “It’s always tough when you’re dealing with big players, but we had to run our stuff and take what we could get.”
Renardo Sidney was forced to sit next to Stansbury on the bench for most of the first half. The junior forward had more turnovers (four) than made field goals (two) in the first 20 minutes. Sidney finished with just nine points and three rebounds in 23 minutes.
MSU showcased its recovery defense in the second half during a big
transition as DiNunno turned down a 3-pointer. By the time he decided to shoot, Arnett Moultrie blocked the shot and passed to Bost, a 2012 Wooden Award watch list member, who converted a three-point play to put the Bulldogs up 52-41.
Moultrie, in his first regular season game in a MSU jersey, had 13 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes. The 6-foot-10 transfer from the University of Texas at El Paso became the first MSU player to accomplish a double-double in his MSU debut since Lawrence Roberts had 26 points and 15 rebounds on Nov. 23, 2003.
Rodney Hood, last season’s Gatorade Mississippi High School Player of the Year, had 12 points and nine rebounds, but he was 2 of 6 from 3-point range.
“I just go off instinct and if I feel like I got a three, I’ll take it,” Hood said. “I think I get in trouble sometimes when I feel uncertain and need to just play basketball. We got to be more aggressive as guards in getting to the lane to create stuff.”
MSU was without junior Shaun Smith, who is inactive with a hip injury, and freshman point guard DeVille Smith, who returned to the team after a stint in a Jackson hospital. The former Callaway High standout, who was checked in to the hospital after suffering dizziness and headaches, dressed out but didn’t play.
“(DeVille Smith) checked out of the hospital about 3:30 (p.m.) or 4 and he was dressing with 10 minutes to go before the game,” Stansbury said. “I would’ve liked to get him in the game and get some separation, but it was probably best we didn’t because he hadn’t done anything for a week basically.”
MSU will continue play in the 2K Classic at 6 p.m. Wednesday against Akron. The Zips qualified for the 2011 NCAA tournament and return seven-foot junior center Zeke Marshall, who was the first top-100 recruit to sign with a Mid-American Conference program since Rivals.com began its ranking system in 2003.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.