STARKVILLE — Minutes come in many different ways for Mississippi State’s guards. The only guarantee is that they will come.
The MSU men’s basketball team flashed a handful of guard combinations Thursday night in its 87-62 win over West Florida and did so while showing no favorites: six guards all played within 18 and 26 minutes.
“We have six really good perimeter players and we have to find ways to get those six guys on the floor as much as possible,” MSU coach Ben Howland said. “That’s our strength.”
Those six guards between 18 and 26 minutes were Lamar Peters, Xavian Stapleton, Tyson Carter, Eli Wright, Nick Weatherspoon and Quinndary Weatherspoon, and MSU combined them all in a myriad of ways.
The combination of Peters at point guard flanked by Carter and Quinndary Weatherspoon was the most pivotal for MSU Thursday, as it was the one that got the Bulldogs out of a first-half hole. Down by 10 minutes into the game, MSU brought that trio into the game and started a 22-4 run that ran through the remainder of the first half.
Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 10 of his 15 points in that run and tallied three steals; several of his baskets were assisted by Peters, who had four with two steals and two points in the run. Carter had a field goal, assist and steal as part of the run.
Peters ended 11 points and six assists while Carter finished with eight points, four rebounds and two assists; both proved they could be productive in other lineups.
Both were exposed to just that when MSU went with a bigger lineup, putting Stapleton at small forward to flank two traditional forwards/centers. There were also times when MSU would keep Stapleton at small forward and put Peters and Nick Weatherspoon on the floor at the same time, with Peters at point guard. When the time came for Peters to take a break, Nick Weatherspoon would run the point flanked by Carter.
That makes no mention of lineups that included both Weatherspoon brothers with Carter between them. In any setup, the younger Weatherspoon flourished: in what Howland called his best minutes to date, Nick scored 14 with two rebounds and three assists. Most notably, the freshman played 18 minutes without a turnover.
Efficiency — even against a Division II opponent in a preseason scrimmage — is not easily attained when moving players both on- and off-the-court and to different positions as freely as MSU did. MSU’s guards make it easier by embracing it.
“We have a deep group of guards, so you have to learn a lot of positions to make it equal for everybody,” Peters said. “You have to sacrifice to make it better for the team. Whatever to make us win, we’re willing to do it.”
With that established, MSU can now embark on its final week of the preseason before Nov. 10’s regular season debut against Alabama State. The first 10 minutes of the game give MSU plenty to correct. The six turnovers within those 10 minutes would be one, but Howland’s attention lies primarily on defense.
“We fouled too much. We had six fouls in the first five minutes, 10 seconds,” Howland said. “KeyShawn (Feazell) fouled out in eight minutes, Schnider (Herard) fouled out in 12 minutes and (E.J.) Datcher fouled out in 16 minutes. We have to do a better job of playing without fouling.”
In the absence of those three forwards, Aric Holman played what Howland deemed the best minutes of any Bulldog: 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks in 17 minutes on 8-of-9 shooting.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter, @Brett_Hudson
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