STARKVILLE — Everything that could have went wrong did Saturday for the Mississippi State men”s basketball team in its loss at the University of Georgia.
Georgia”s league-worst 3-point shooting was suddenly potent against a zone defense. Kodi Augustus was in foul trouble, which limited MSU”s post rotation and helped Georgia to a 48-23 rebounding advantage. MSU also mustered just three points from players off its bench and had seven assists to Georgia”s 19.
Those factors gave Rick Stansbury plenty to discuss following an 86-64 loss. But Stansbury was most disappointed by his Bulldogs” lack of fight after they fell behind by as many as 19 points in the first half.
On Monday, he said junior point guard Dee Bost was the only player who performed at a high rate each play.
“We didn”t play with the toughness and urgency you have to play with to have a chance on the road, especially against a good team like Georgia,” Stansbury said. “From the get-go, when they hit us early, we didn”t respond the way you gotta respond.”
MSU”s loss came after a quality week of practice and consecutive league wins.
Augustus” early foul trouble and Georgia”s hot shooting played a role in the early deficit, but MSU cut the lead to 11 in the first half and to 13 with 16 minutes to go in the second half.
Those were two moments where a few more plays on offense could have helped MSU shift in momentum. Instead, it went on to trail by 25 later in the half.
So where was the energy that saw the MSU (10-8, 2-2) chase an Ole Miss lead down in the final minutes?
“I couldn”t tell you,” Bost said. “Everybody practices hard, but it seems like when the lights come on it goes dead or whatever.
“Before every game, we get in the huddle and the first thing I say is play hard ”til the clock hits triple zeroes.”
Once again, Bost was blunt in what is holding the team back from winning big games.
“The same thing I”ve been saying: Heart,” he said. “That”s all that”s missing. If we play with heart and we compete, we should be in every game. There”s no way in the world we should keep losing by 20 or 10 plus. All our games should be close.”
It will take more than effort for MSU to win its next two games against Vanderbilt (6 p.m., Thursday, ESPN2) and against Florida (Noon, Saturday, WCBI).
The Commodores” only two league losses have come on at Tennessee and South Carolina. Vanderbilt (14-4, 2-2) held a 17-point second-half lead against Tennessee and led South Carolina by double digits.
“We got a brutal stretch right here coming up. Even though you”re at home, you ain”t guaranteed nothing,” Stansbury said. “Every game counts the same. Some guys maybe don”t understand the importance of that, and getting yourself up for the level to play against the competition you gotta play with.”
Bench woes continue
MSU”s lack of depth was once again exposed at Georgia, but Stansbury has no immediate plans to alter the lineup.
MSU scored three bench points at Georgia and two against Ole Miss. It had 22 in a rout of Auburn and 14 in a loss against Alabama.
While MSU has had bench production, it hasn”t found a spark when needed. And with Ravern Johnson struggling to reach his 18-point per game average, scoring has fallen on the shoulders of Bost and sophomore forward Renardo Sidney.
Considering Stansbury is asking a freshman (Jalen Steele), a sophomore (Wendell Lewis), and a junior college transfer (Brian Bryant) to be his top three bench players, inconsistency is expected.
“On the road, it”s never easy for those young guys,” Stansbury said. “I thought Brian gave us some more minutes over there against Georgia. (We) need more from Wendell. (We) just need to play more consistently from those three guys in particular.”
Stansbury hopes to use more of the backcourt combination of Bryant at the point and Bost at two-guard, which he experimented with at Georgia.
He thinks it will allow Bost to score more and to add versatility to the attack, which he said is struggling to work the ball inside-out in the halfcourt.
“No question, playing when Dee”s alongside him takes some of that pressure off him,” Stansbury said of Bryant. “We played it a little bit over there Saturday, freed Dee to get out in transition and run a little bit. Pitch ahead and get something easy, which we don”t do a all the time when Dee”s got the ball in his hands filling the lane the other way.”
Stansbury has high praise for Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt has earned a reputation for being disciplined and balanced.
This season, the Commodores, who are ranked No. 19 in this week”s Associated Press Top 25 poll, feature the most improved player (Festus Ezeli) and the best shooter (John Jenkins) in the league, according to Stansbury.
Ezeli, a junior center, is averaging 12.6 points and 6.3 rebounds a game, while Jenkins leads the SEC with 18.7 points per game.
Stansbury lauded Ezeli”s ability to put pressure on the basket, and how that will give Sidney a test he hasn”t faced this season.
But the most underrated player of Vanderbilt”s lineup is SEC Player of the Week Lance Goulbourne, who leads the team with eight rebounds per game. Goulbourne is part of a forward trio that averages 6-foot-9.
“(Goulbourne) shines because he”s tougher than nails,” Stansbury said. “He”s been a guy that”s taken them to another level because he can score, shoots the three a little bit and he”s tough. He”s a guy who can put it on the floor.”
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