STARKVILLE –In the preseason, Mississippi State men’s basketball coach Ben Howland pondered a dilemma.
He had consulted with his coaching peers in the Southeastern Conference, some of whom told the sixth-year MSU coach they would keep players on campus through the holidays to prevent the spread of COVID-19. At the time, Howland, who has a roster that consists mostly of players from Mississippi, wanted to give his players a few days off to spend Christmas with their families.
After MSU’s final nonconference game of the 2020-21 season Monday, Howland stuck to his gut. MSU players practiced Tuesday morning then departed for a few days for a Christmas break with a scheduled Dec. 26 return date. Howland said four to five players opted to remain in Starkville through the holiday.
Each athlete was tested before leaving and will be tested upon arrival before the Bulldogs open their SEC schedule four days later.
“I just think with everything our players have been through mentally, starting in June and contending with COVID, it’s important to be able to be with your family for a few days,” Howland said. “We’ve talked about it with most of our guys, they really need to be smart about staying COVID free, because the entire key to our season is staying COVID free. I’m putting my trust in them and our testing procedures in the SEC.”
MSU finished the nonconference schedule 5-3 overall, with losses to Liberty, Dayton and Clemson. The Bulldogs’ NCAA tournament resume to this point lacks any quality wins but doesn’t have any backbreaking losses either. MSU will begin its conference slate with a road matchup against Georgia at 6 p.m. on Dec. 30.
“The SEC is a whole new season,” Howland said. “Once it starts, it never stops for 18 games. It’s a grind, it’s going to be a real challenge because our league is so good.”
Trio of Stewart, Molinar, Smith paving way for Bulldogs
With MSU’s four top scorers departing and relying on a roster that had played little meaningful minutes together, it was fair to wonder where the scoring would come from for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs probably anticipated leaps from D.J. Stewart, Iverson Molinar and Tolu Smith, but nothing to the extent of the production turned in.
Stewart, a redshirt sophomore guard, leads the team in scoring with 18.3 points per game that included a career-high 32-point performance against Dayton. Stewart’s biggest growth has come from beyond the arc, as the Grace native has converted 17 of 33 3-pointers for a shooting percentage of 51.5 percent. Meanwhile, Molinar has given the Bulldogs a big lift after missing the first three games because of a positive COVID-19 test. The sophomore guard, who Howland said had the biggest improvement of a player from his freshman to sophomore year he’s seen since Russell Westbrook, is second on the team with 17.6 points per contest.
“Iverson and D.J. are fast forming one of the best backcourts in the SEC in my opinion,” Howland said.
While replacing former MSU standout Reggie Perry in the frontcourt was going to be a tall task for anyone, Smith has done an admirable job at the four position.
Smith leads the team with 8.9 rebounds per night and has four double-doubles this season.
“With my size and my frame, I expect to pull in a double-double every night,” Smith said. “I feel like it’s a necessity for our team.”
He’s also the only other Bulldog to consistently score in double figures with a 13.9 points per game average.
“At the beginning of the year, I feel like we were kind of quiet on the court,” Smith said. “But now, we’re constantly talking, and our communication has gotten much better.”
Free throw lows
In an alternate universe, MSU could be sitting at 7-1 overall entering SEC play with the potential of being ranked in the AP Top 25. Alas, poor free throw shooting has been the dagger in two of the Bulldogs’ three losses.
In eight games, MSU is 102-of-176 from the charity stripe for a shooting percentage of 58. In a 53-42 season-opening loss to Clemson, MSU went an abysmal 8-of-27 from the free throw line. In a tightly-contested 85-82 double overtime loss to Dayton, the Bulldogs converted 9 of 22 free throws.
Three of MSU’s key cogs in the starting lineup boast free throw percentages less than 70 percent. Even in wins, foul line shooting could be better.
“Our foul shooting is still really disappointing,” Howland said Monday after his team converted 12 of 22 free throws against Mississippi Valley State.
Early look at Georgia
The other team in the SEC that shares the same nickname as MSU has thus far played above its preseason projection of finishing 13th in the conference, starting 6-0 on the season. Nevertheless, the red Bulldogs remain 87th in KenPom.com rankings and have not played a team with a rating higher than 71st (out of 357 Division I teams) yet this year.
“I have not seen Georgia play a wink (yet), but I followed a little of their recent win over Cincinnati,” Howland said. “They’re playing great and they’re undefeated. My challenge the next four days will be watching film on them in preparation.”
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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