STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State University men’s basketball coaches have been concerned about the number of minutes freshman Rodney Hood has been playing at small forward
On Saturday in a 91-88 victory against Auburn University, sophomore Shaun Smith showcased an ability to fill a five- to eight-minute role off the bench at that position.
Smith, who had seen action in only three games before this weekend, and none for more than 12 minutes, was one point off his career high with five.
“I thought Shaun Smith came off the bench and gave us some minutes,” MSU coach Rick Stansbury said. “We don’t have a lot of bodies, so anytime we can buy a couple of minutes that’s good for us. Shaun stepped to the free-throw line and made a couple of free throws late in the game.”
The 6-foot-6 guard even hit a 3-pointer from the wing to put the Bulldogs up 22-21 with 9 minutes, 23 seconds left in the first half. The five points were the most for the Columbus native since he had six points and six rebounds against North Carolina A&T on Dec. 12, 2010.
Smith has been dealing with hip injuries since arriving at MSU. He was a two-time All-Area selection by The Dispatch. Multiple surgeries and a season as a redshirt have limited his on-court production and practice time.
“The more minutes he’s getting, his confidence is going up,” MSU sophomore guard Jalen Steele said. “He feels comfortable out there now.”
Hood, who had 11 points and six rebounds, played the second-lowest number of minutes (34) since the beginning of Southeastern Conference thanks to Smith’s contributions.
“All (Shaun) has to do is get his confidence and make plays when coach puts him in the game and he’ll get more minutes,” MSU senior guard Dee Bost said.
Free throws nearly derail Bulldogs
The free-throw line was a problem for MSU on Saturday.
Not only did the Bulldogs have trouble keeping the Tigers from shooting free throws (Auburn led 12-2 in attempts through 20 minutes), they also had trouble putting the game away from the line, missing 14 of 33.
“They got to the foul line probably more than anyone has gotten to the foul line on us this year,” Stansbury said. “We had a bunch of opportunities to stretch that thing out to 13 or 14 points if we just make some free throws.”
MSU junior Arnett Moultrie missed four of his final six shots in the final 40 seconds.
“It was really frustrating because those are easy points for us and we need those points so we have to go to the line and knock them down,” Moultrie said.
Moultrie started the year making nearly 80 percent from the free-throw line, but since New Year’s Day he is 34 of 52 (65.4 percent) in SEC play.
MSU entered the game shooting 73.2 percent from the foul line, but it is now a little better than 70 percent in conference play, and is 29 of 45 in its past two games.
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