STARKVILLE — Pressure would have been an understandable sensation for the freshmen entering Mississippi State men’s basketball team. They are the new additions to a team expected to go from a 4 seed in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) to comfortably in the NCAA tournament.
Through six games, those freshmen are showing no signs of stress, even when thrown into the fire.
A leg injury to sophomore forward Abdul Ado has thrown freshmen Reggie Perry and Robert Woodard into more prominent roles and they have responded with some of their most productive minutes of their young careers. It’s possible Ado returns for a critical road game 6 p.m. Friday (CBS Sports Network) against Dayton (4-1), but if he doesn’t, No. 25 MSU is in good hands.
“I feel like we had no reason to feel pressure,” Woodard, a former Columbus High School Falcon, said. “We have great players around us, great upperclassmen as teammates that helped us prepare for this. It’s going on the court, doing what they taught us and doing what we practice.”
For Perry, that has meant adjusting to a starting role. He has taken Ado’s starting spot and performed admirably, including turning a career-high 28 minutes in the 88-65 Monday win over Alcorn State into his first career double-double, 16 points and 11 rebounds.
MSU coach Ben Howland has said since the preseason that Perry’s rebounding ability was likely to get him on the floor for a team that needed a presence like his, after finishing outside of the top 100 nationally in rebounding margin.
Through six games, the 6-foot-10, 245-pound Perry is third on the team with 6.2 rebounds per game and third with 12 offensive rebounds.
“He has an incredible nose for the rebounds. He goes hard, two hands, really fundamental,” Howland said. “I think he’s improving every day. Whether or not he starts is inconsequential to his minutes and his growth as a player. I thought he played well for us in our game against Alcorn State.”
In his two games in a starting capacity, Perry has proven to do more than just rebound. He was 7-for-8 from the field against Alcorn State, even making his first 3-pointer of the season after missing five over the first five games. He added two assists, a block and a steal in that game.
His teammates were not surprised at such a well-rounded performance.
“He’s almost sleeping in the gym,” junior point guard Lamar Peters said. “It’s not a surprise to see him dominate a game like he did (Monday) because I think he can play better and keep growing, because it’s just going to help our team going down the stretch.”
The same can be said for Woodard: Howland mentioned how impressed he was with Woodard’s five assists and zero turnovers against Alcorn State. He also blocked a shot against Saint Mary’s and handled 25 minutes in a four-point win at a neutral site.
Howland believes the freshmen are already so acclimated to big-time college basketball because they were such highly-touted prospects: Woodard’s was Mississippi’s top-prospect according to 247 Sports and Perry was No. 3 in Georgia, statuses that sent them to the premier Nike and Adidas camps, plus spots in USA Basketball’s youth system and in Perry’s case, McDonald’s All-American status.
Still, they had to adjust to college basketball. Howland has a laugh as he recalled Perry’s.
“Reggie was like, ‘They’re pushing me in the back.’ Yeah, welcome. This is how it is now,” Howland said. “They’re going to shove in the back and they’re not going to catch them all. That’s why you have to hit them first. Hopefully we got growth from there.”
Woodard said his biggest moments of growth were getting acclimated with his teammates; he once again credited the team’s upperclassmen for getting him ready for the rigors of the game.
Both of them are prepared for the game now, and MSU (5-1) is treating them accordingly. Even if Ado is able to play against Dayton — Howland said he would try to practice Wednesday and go from there — Perry and Woodard will still have important roles.
“It’s so fun to watch players grow in front of your eyes,” Howland said. “That’s what fun about this job.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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