STARKVILLE — Just before halftime of Wednesday’s game between Mississippi State and Detroit Mercy at Humphrey Coliseum, forward Cameron Matthews turned to point guard Iverson Molinar.
“I need some tough buckets from you right now,” Matthews told his teammate.
“I got you,” Molinar responded.
It took a little while, but the Bulldogs star guard delivered.
Molinar scored two key baskets and assisted on another to help Mississippi State (3-0) pull away from the Titans (0-3) en route to a 77-64 win on Wednesday in Starkville.
“He got it going towards the end,” Matthews said.
The junior helped the Bulldogs gain critical separation from a Detroit Mercy team that refused to go away with less than 10 minutes remaining. With the Titans trailing by just five points, Molinar made a layup, fed Javian Davis for an open dunk and drove the ball in again, pushing the Bulldogs’ lead to nine with under eight minutes to go.
Detroit Mercy never seriously threatened again. After a layup by former MSU forward Prince Oduro put the Titans within seven, Molinar answered with another of those tough buckets to stretch the lead back out. Mississippi State soon went up double digits en route to the victory.
“This was a good game for us because it wasn’t a blowout and we had to win a game that we had to fight for,” coach Ben Howland said. “That was important for us as we’re moving forward here.”
Molinar and North Carolina State transfer Shakeel Moore each had 19 points to lead the Bulldogs, the pair of guards overshadowing the debut of a third. Former four-star recruit Rocket Watts played his first game for Mississippi State since transferring from Michigan State; the 6-foot-2 guard missed the first two contests while recovering from hip surgery.
Watts’ debut was mostly uneventful; he played eight minutes, all in the first half, and made a floater before missing a 3-pointer. He took a pair of charges from the Titans and finished with two fouls and two turnovers.
Howland said Watts will be primed for a bigger role in the Bulldogs’ next game at 2 p.m. Sunday against Morehead State. The coach put freshman Camryn Carter in Watts’ place to open the second half, citing Carter’s prowess in on-ball defense.
“I just thought since he hadn’t played at all in any of our scrimmages, he’s only been practicing a couple weeks, with the game as tight as it was, I didn’t want to throw him out there at that point,” Howland said of Watts.
But Mississippi State didn’t need the Detroit native to handle Watts’ hometown team Wednesday. The Bulldogs shot 59.2 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3 in the victory.
They also held Titans star Antoine Davis — the nation’s second-leading scorer last season — to 16 points on 6-of-20 shooting and forced 15 turnovers.
“I feel like it was a majority just us getting steals, getting long rebounds and turning that into transition offense,” Matthews said.
Matthews said his four steals were his favorite part of a stat line that included seven points, five rebounds and four assists. He and Molinar combined for 10 assists as the Bulldogs had 16 on their 29 made field goals Wednesday.
It was a sign Mississippi State’s offense is operating as it should even with forward Tolu Smith still out of the lineup. Howland admitted the absence of Smith was important in a contest where the Titans pulled down 12 offensive rebounds to the Bulldogs’ eight.
“Way too many offensive rebounds,” Howland said. “… That’s a disappointment.”
Struggles on the glass allowed the Titans to hang around for most of the night. After four points from Andersson Garcia off the bench pushed the Bulldogs’ lead to 15 points late in the first half, a quick flurry helped the Titans make it an eight-point game at the break.
But Molinar helped MSU pull away, and Moore had 16 of his 19 points in the second half to buoy the Bulldogs. A fastbreak layup by the former Wolfpack guard put the home team up 15 with 4:22 to go, and the Bulldogs coasted from there.
“I’m very happy about how he’s played here these first couple games,” Howland said of Moore.
Moore helped Mississippi State win its third straight game by double digits as the Bulldogs have defended home court nicely against inferior competition. They’ll go for a fourth straight victory Sunday against the Eagles before a tournament in the Bahamas begins at 8:30 p.m. Nov. 25 with a game against Louisville.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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