STARKVILLE — Mississippi State senior Dee Bost has been called a shoot-first point guard.
Bost put that label aside Wednesday night and became more of a facilitator in No. 18 MSU’s 76-71 victory against LSU at Humphrey Coliseum.
Bost, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, was three rebounds and a point from his first career triple-double. The Bob Cousy Award finalist finished with nine points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds in 40. He played the entire game because MSU is without backup point guard DeVille Smith.
Bost said MSU coach Rick Stansbury told him Wednesday in shootaround he wanted him to look to do other things than score.
“I wasn’t really looking to score tonight,” Bost said. “Coach told me to go out and get 10 assists, and that’s exactly what I did.”
Whether it was running the team or crashing the defensive glass to give junior Arnett Moultrie and other MSU big bodies some help, Bost made it happen in a hurry.
“It’s like this every time we play them,” Bost said about the final winning margin.
Smith, a freshman from Jackson Callaway, has checked into a Jackson-area hospital for the second time this season after suffering from symptoms of headaches and dizziness.
MSU basketball team spokesperson Gregg Ellis confirmed Monday that the 5-foot-10 guard entered the hospital Friday. Stansbury said Smith will “absolutely” not participate in either of MSU’s games this week. He joked Bost didn’t play every second of the game Wednesday and that he did get a 15-second break during a stoppage of play.
Bost hit a jump shot to open the game for the fifth time this season. He ended the evening with another defensive moment similar to the one he had in MSU’s home victory against the University of Alabama more than two weeks ago. In the first half, Bost helped the Bulldogs get inside touches. He likely would have had a career high in assists (11 at Houston in 2010) if not for the post players’ inability to catch some of his passes in the lane.
“We got the ball in there to him a lot in the first half, but he missed some shots,” Stansbury said of Moultrie. “He really found a way to finish in the second half.
Johnson mad after loss at officiating
Whether it was the emotions of losing four of the past five games or something else, LSU coach Trent Johnson was frustrated about the officiating Wednesday night.
“When you’ve got good kids and they struggle and they fight and there’s things going on out there you don’t like, that’s hard,” Johnson said. “The game was decided on the boards, but there was a reason for that. You can’t be as aggressive as you want. I just want a clarification so I can help my kids.”
Johnson, whose team shot 18 fewer free throws than MSU, was called for a technical in the final seconds after he felt MSU’s Bost and Moultrie fouled guard Anthony Hickey with his team trailing by three points. The SEC Network television announcers said Johnson was whistled for a technical foul for being out of the coaching box area minutes after both benches were warned for such a violation earlier in the game.
“It is really hard when you don’t have a phony bone in your body and you have to politically correct,” Johnson said. “Let me explain to you how I am. When you have good kids and they fight and compete and there is stuff out there that you don’t like, and you know what is going on, you struggle with it. We don’t feel good about losing.”
O’Bryant shines in return to Mississippi
The MSU coaching staff knew freshman forward Johnny O’Bryant was capable of being an instant contributor on a Southeastern Conference team. That’s why those coaches tried to get him to sign with the Bulldogs last spring.
The Bulldogs made the former four-star recruit from Cleveland a major target last year before he signed with the Tigers and ruined the hopes of Rodney Hood and DeVille Smith, who had been in constant conversation with the 6-foot-9 forward about the prospects of them playing together in college.
“I didn’t know he could shoot like that,” Hood said Wednesday after the game. “He rose up and knocked down some shots early on us. That was even surprising.”
Wednesday marked the first time in five games O’Bryant played after he broke a bone in his non-shooting (left) hand. O’Bryant played with a wrap on the hand and scored six points and grabbed four rebounds.
“He played well tonight and in practice yesterday,” Johnson said. “He helps us. He can play. For him to be able to play in a high level game like this and give us 20 minutes is good.”
O’Bryant was one of several LSU post players who were unable to stop Moultrie, but he was encouraged by his contributions on both ends of the floor despite a lack of practice time in the past couple of weeks.
“Arnett is a experienced player and a long guy,” O’Bryant said. “He is active with tip-ins and rebounds and was a very good player tonight.”
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