STARKVILLE — Nikki McCray-Penson’s message Tuesday was simple.
“We’ll get beat if we guard like we did against Kentucky,” she said.
Days after an overtime loss to reigning All-American Rhyne Howard and the Wildcats snatched an overtime victory at Humphrey Coliseum, McCray-Penson spent a chunk of her midweek media availability harping on defensive alignment and varying combinations with which the Bulldogs can find success.
Entering Sunday’s loss to Kentucky, MSU was holding opponents to less than 25 percent from 3-point range. But as the Bulldogs sloughed off their assignments, the Wildcats rattled home 14 of 28 shots from long range, while Howard wheeled and dealed her way to a game-high 33 points.
Yet for as dismal as MSU’s defense was against the No. 10-ranked team in America, there were factions of Sunday’s contest worth drawing on. McCray-Penson flashed a new look lineup midway through the contest with junior Myah Taylor and Aliyah Matharu at guard, sophomore Rickea Jackson and junior Xaria Wiggins at forward and junior Jessika Carter at center.
“That group talked the most,” McCray-Penson said of what she saw in the new-look lineup. “They made mistakes but they made up for their mistakes with talking.”
While both Matharu and Taylor are minute in stature, Wiggins and Jackson gave the Bulldogs some much-needed length on the perimeter in an attempt to slow down Kentucky’s hot-shooting ways.
Wiggins, who saw her first action of the season Sunday after a blood clot was found in her right lung, flashed the three-and-D potential that made her a dangerous cog in Vic Schaefer’s scheme a year ago. On her first defensive possession of the night, the former four-star recruit bodied up Howard and forced the reigning Southeastern Conference player of the year into a travel. Four possessions later, she banged home a 3-pointer on her first shot of the night.
“We were very fortunate to get her cleared that day,” McCray-Penson said. “She hadn’t practiced much but I knew she had the experience of being in this league and guarding Kentucky’s actions and having to guard a player like Rhyne Howard for two years.”
With Wiggins adding a new element to MSU’s game, Matharu’s revival, both offensively and defensively, bodes well for a team that has a proven scorer in Jackson, but spreads the wealth down the rest of the roster. After averaging 15.4 points per game over the final five games of last year, she’s continued to show in spurts in 2020-21. Matharu’s 19 points Sunday marked the second-best Bulldog effort of the night aside from Jackson’s 23 points.
But Matharu has long-been billed as a scorer. The more glaring transition has been in her defense. Through eight games this season, Matharu’s 12 steals rank second on the team, while her rebounding numbers are up from 1.8 per game, to three per contest. Sunday, her zero plus-minus rating also ranked first among MSU players that played 10 or more minutes.
“I’m very confident,” Matharu said following last year’s SEC Tournament final loss to South Carolina. “I love playing against competition. That’s the reason why I chose to come here. They play tough. They play my style of basketball. I want every night to be tough so we can get better as a unit, not just individually.”
Tuesday, McCray-Penson wouldn’t put an exact number on what kind of minutes Wiggins might be capable of playing in her return, but made clear the lineups that work will continue to be trotted out, whether that be the one onlookers saw midway through Sunday’s loss, or another yet to be conceived conglomerate.
“If I see a group that’s playing well, we’re going to roll with it,” McCray-Penson said. “But it’s good to have someone that has experience that can come in and play for you that knows this league.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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