STARKVILLE — Ben Howland liked the pass most.
Sure, the Mississippi State men’s basketball coach enjoyed sophomore forward Reggie Perry’s old-fashioned three-point play late in the first half of Monday’s game against Kent State at Humphrey Coliseum. Perry subsequently knocked down a jumper then buried a jump hook, and that impressed Howland, too.
Then Perry delivered a beautiful feed inside to sophomore guard Robert Woodard II, who hit the layup and drew a foul. Woodard made his free throw, capping a quick and pivotal 10-0 run for the Bulldogs.
“I thought the dish to Woodard was my favorite play for him of the night,” Howland said. “To have a guy that’s 6-9, 249 to be able to go the length of the court under control, handle it and make that kind of pass, it’s very unique.”
Perry’s one-of-a-kind skill set was on display in full during the Bulldogs’ 10-0 spurt that catapulted them from a four-point deficit into the lead. Just 96 seconds in length, the streak put on display pretty much everything Perry had to offer: inside scoring, midrange shooting, drawing contact, offensive rebounding and passing. It was a dominant stretch for the forward on his way to a career night with 26 points and 17 rebounds, and it carried the Bulldogs (9-3) to a 96-68 win over Kent State (10-3) on Monday.
“Reggie Perry was dominant on the glass and around the basket, getting to the line the way we want him to get to the line,” Howland said.
Perry made 10 of his 14 free throws Monday, adding a critical dimension to Mississippi State’s offensive game.
“It was really big,” Perry said. “I was just happy I got the whistle tonight.”
The Bulldogs made 29 of 38 shots from the foul line overall, supplementing a steady offensive output from several players. Freshman Iverson Molinar was quiet in the first half with just two points but exploded for 14 more in the second half, and freshman D.J. Stewart Jr. scored 12 points.
“Both those guys, they played tonight how they practiced this week,” Howland said. “They had great practices leading up to this game. That’s how you do it: You practice hard, you practice well, and you play well in the games.”
Woodard sprained his toe earlier Wednesday but muscled through the injury to score 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, and junior Nick Weatherspoon had 10 points in his second game after returning from suspension.
But the true star was Perry, who had an effective shooting night, going 8 of 16 from the field. Kent State had no answer for him on the offensive glass — Perry racked up five offensive rebounds and seemed to score off every one.
“I think his efficiency was the best thing that he did, to me, tonight,” Kent State coach Rob Senderoff said. “He didn’t do anything that I would call ‘special.’ It’s not like he made ridiculous plays. He was around the ball, finished when he caught it. He went and offensive rebounded. He did all the things that a really good player does, and he did it within the structure of what they do.”
Perry was scoring with ease from the outset, but it took the rest of the Bulldogs a bit to catch up. Kent State took an early lead, stretching its advantage to as much as nine points at 26-17 on the Flashes’ fourth made 3-pointer in just over 10 minutes.
Mississippi State slowly chipped away at the deficit, trailing 37-33 with just under three and a half minutes left. Then Perry dropped in a layup and was fouled to kick-start the Bulldogs’ dynamic run, and MSU took a six-point advantage into halftime.
“I thought after the first six or seven minutes of the game, our defense really started to lock down and did a much better job,” Howland said.
The Bulldogs kept up their intense defense and their high-octane offense from there. Molinar led the way in the second half with 14 points on 4-of-4 shooting, Stewart scored eight points, and Perry made eight free throws in the period alone. MSU limited Kent State to 29 points in the second half and scored 51 of its own to stretch the lead out quickly.
Senderoff summed up the Flashes’ poor second half simply.
“They kept playing really hard, and we didn’t,” he said. “That’s the bottom line.”
The Bulldogs certainly did that, playing what Howland said was his team’s best game of the season so far to close their nonconference schedule.
Southeastern Conference play starts at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against No. 8 Auburn (12-0) at Humphrey Coliseum.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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