STARKVILLE — Moments after Mississippi State’s 71-63 win over Utah State on Saturday afternoon, men’s basketball coach Rick Ray was asked if this victory was among his best non-conference wins during his three years in Starkville.
“Well, to be honest, there haven’t been that many,” said Ray with a laugh.
That was the kind of mood the Bulldogs were in following a huge eight-point home victory, a win that gave Ray a 3-0 start for the second-straight season.
“Thus was a big win for our basketball team,” said Ray. “Coming into this season, we said that we want to be in serious contention for postseason basketball this year. The only sway you can do that is to beat quality programs like Utah State. Coach (Stew) Morrill does such a great job, they are a quality team.”
A quality team that gave MSU its first signature win of the young season, which also includes wins over Western Carolina and Mississippi Valley State. But according to Ray, how MSU won was just as important as getting the victory.
“We need a game like this, a game that was back and forth, back and forth,” said Ray. “This was big for our guys.”
Ray wasn’t kidding about the back-and-forth nature of Saturday’s game. The two teams were never separated by more than nine points, and the game featured 18 lead changes. Utah State, which entered at 3-0 after road wins over mid-major powers Illinois State and Santa Clara, led 38-34 at halftime.
In the second half, however, the Bulldogs began to assert themselves inside, leaning on a distinct size and strength advantage down low. That’s where MSU forward Roquez Johnson finished with a team-high 15 points, and that’s where junior Gavin Ware scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half. Ware, a junior from Starkville, missed the final 14 minutes of the opening half due to foul trouble. After the break, though, he made all five of his shots to help MSU pull away for the eight-point win.
“Coming in, we’ve got tall and physical guys,” said Ware. “We fought we’d have an advantage inside. Our crowd and atmosphere was good, too, and that kept us pumped up.”
That crowd, and Ware’s mastery inside, powered MSU down the stretch, as the Bulldogs finished on a 15-5 run to pull away for the win. Down 58-57 with six minutes left, MSU grabbed the lead back on a Ware layup. From there, MSU got layups from Trivante Bloodman and point guard IJ Ready, who played for the first time this season. MSU also connected on eight consecutive free throws down the stretch to put the game away.
“The fact that we had less turnovers that Utah State, that was important,” said Ray, “especially after that performance against Mississippi Valley.”
That night, MSU turned the ball over 26 times on the way to an 89-68 win. On Saturday afternoon, MSU turned the ball over just 12 times, a testament to the effectiveness of Bloodman and Ready, who was returning from offseason back surgery and was not expected to play prior to the game,
“I found out I was cleared at 11 a.m., and we played at 12,” said Ready with a smile.
The sophomore point guard scored just two points, but he dished out three assists. The Bulldogs, however, won the game down low, where Johnson and Ware dominated.
MSU also got a strong performance from Fallou Ndoye, MSU’s 6-foot-11 redshirt freshman center. Ndoye played 15 minutes in the first half in relief of Ware, and he scored nine points during that stretch.
“I tried to talk to him on the sideline, get him pumped up,” said Ware of Ndoye. “He did a great job.”
Joining Johnson in leading MSU with 15 points was junior Fred Thomas, who scored 11 in the first half. Thomas finished with two of MSU’s four three-pointers.
On the other side, the Bulldogs escaped despite a strong shooting performance out of the Aggies. Utah State connected on 7-of-13 from behind the arc in the first half to build the four-point halftime lead. But MSU’s defense stiffened in the second half, allowing just 25 Utah State points after the break.
“We gave them too many open looks, great shots in the first half,” said Ray. “No. 2 (Darius Perkins) got hot, and they hurt us from outside. But in the second half, we stayed more disciplined, didn’t over-help, didn’t over-pursue. And we got some stops.”
MSU also out-rebounded Utah State 38-12.
Now 3-0, MSU will host Clayton State Monday night at 7.
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