STARKVILLE — Coming into Sunday’s game at Humphrey Coliseum, Mississippi State knew Arkansas–Pine Bluff had played its first two big-name opponents quite close.
The Golden Lions had a chance to win but settled for a one-point loss Monday at TCU. On Friday, they stayed within single digits of Oklahoma.
“We obviously talked a ton about that and showed our guys a bunch of clips,” Bulldogs coach Chris Jans said.
Then Mississippi State made sure UAPB would not hang around.
The Bulldogs (3-0) showed their superiority from the outset, dominating the Golden Lions (2-2) from the start in an 80-47 win in Starkville.
MSU continued a hot start to the season after wins over Texas A&M–Corpus Christi on Monday and Akron on Friday.
The Bulldogs led by double digits less than 11 minutes into the game, pushed their advantage as high as 25 before halftime and led by as many as 33 points in the comfortable victory.
It was a true team effort as 12 Mississippi State players scored, and none reached double digits until Tolu Smith’s layup with 5:02 remaining in the game. Smith and D.J. Jeffries had 10 points each, while Cameron Matthews, Shakeel Moore, Kimani Hamilton and Tyler Stevenson all had eight.
Martavious Russell scored seven points, Shawn Jones Jr. had six, and Dashawn Davis and Will McNair Jr. each had five.
“It’s really hard to scout against when you have that many people who contribute in a bunch of different columns,” Jans said. “It’s hard to prepare for.”
Russell and Hamilton, both true freshmen, played big roles in the Bulldogs’ blowout victory. Hamilton got 13 minutes to Russell’s 10, but both contributed heavily to the stat sheet in their time on the floor.
Hamilton made four of his five free throws, collected three rebounds and also recorded a pair of steals.
Russell’s huge and-one dunk inside the final minute capped an impressive showing with two steals, a block, a 3-pointer and an assist.
“When our teammates trust in us as well as the coaching staff, it just feels great,” Russell said.
After trailing by as many as 12 points in the first half of Monday’s season opener, Mississippi State wasted no time in getting out to an early lead.
The Bulldogs made three 3-pointers and four layups in the first eight minutes, scoring efficiently to get out to an early lead.
UAPB cut the cushion to three with 11:02 left in the first half, but MSU responded with a 13-0 run bookended by 3s from Jones and Jeffries to increase its advantage to 16.
Only a pair of free throws by the Golden Lions’ Shaun Doss Jr. separated the Bulldogs’ run from an 11-0 streak that put MSU up 41-16 with 2:22 left in the half.
Mississippi State’s advantage did not tip below 20 points for the rest of the game.
The lead reached 30 after Hamilton was fouled on a triple and made all three free throws, then later surpassed that mark on a triple by Moore.
Russell’s one-handed poster dunk over Doss put the exclamation mark on Sunday’s game.
The freshman fell underneath the bucket after the whistle, leaving him unsure if he even put the ball through the basket.
“When I got up, everybody was around me,” Russell recalled. “I was like, ‘Yeah, it went in.’”
He made the ensuing free throw and, less than a minute later, celebrated with his teammates at the final buzzer.
It was the third win in as many games with the outcome not even in doubt at the end, a good sign for the Bulldogs moving forward.
Mississippi State will hope to continue its strong stretch of play at 8 p.m. Thursday against South Dakota (2-1) at Humphrey Coliseum.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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