STARKVILLE — Trailing senior guard Tyson Carter, sophomore center Reggie Perry launched his 6-foot-10-inch, 250-pound body skyward.
Corralling Carter’s wayward layup off the iron, Perry skied over an Arkansas defender as he threw down his second tip-slam of the night — sending the Humphrey Coliseum crowd into a frenzy.
Just two of his 26 points and 13 rebounds on the night, Perry became the first MSU player in the past 20 years to record 20 points and 10 rebounds in three-straight games as he guided the Bulldogs to a 77-70 win over Arkansas Wednesday in Starkville.
“No not really,” Perry — a former Arkansas commit — said of whether he circles the calendar when the Razorbacks come to town. “I just try to kill everyone.”
Kill he has. Since scoring a season-high 26 points Dec. 30 against Kent State, the Bulldogs are 3-1 in games in which Perry eclipses the 20-point plateau.
As impressive, MSU has boasted a 22-point margin of victory in it’s three victories over that span.
“You’ve got to go to him every possession,” junior guard Nick Weatherspoon said through a wry smile. “If nobody is doing anything about it, it’s simple. We’re going to him until somebody does something about it.”
While Perry closed his night with an exclamation point, Wednesday’s contest proved taxing for much of the opening 20 minutes.
Facing an Arkansas defense that’s adopted a newfound physical acumen under first-year head coach Eric Musselman, Perry was limited to 12 points — six of which came from the free throw line — in the first half.
While the Razorbacks defense — a unit that ranks No. 9 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com — stalled the prolific big man, the Bulldogs settled for jump shot after jump shot.
Perry proved the most prolific offender. After cashing two short jumpers for his first four points of the night, he dribbled into the frontcourt and launched a spot-up 3-point shot from the top of the key on the ensuing possession.
In all, 20 of MSU’s 30 first half points came on jump shots, while four of its six points in the pain over the game’s opening frame came courtesy of tip ins from Perry and Ado.
Noticing the trend, coach Ben Howland burned a full timeout with 9:36 remaining in an attempt to curb his team’s erratic shooting decisions.
“I asked the team, because they’re all very, very smart, ‘Who’s being more patient? Us or them?'” he said. “It was obvious that we were excited. We were playing against a really good team and we took a number of quick shots, ill advised shots in the first half.”
Following the break, Howland’s words hit home.
MSU’s first bucket of the second half came as Perry spun outside off the right block, dipped under a defender and finished for an easy layup. It snowballed.
Finding his footing in the post against an Arkansas lineup he boasted at least a two-inch height advantage over, Perry flashed the physical interior presence that made him a preseason first team All-SEC selection as he notched 14 of his game-high 26 points over the game’s final 20 minutes — including an 8 of 9 performance from the free throw line.
“He did what great players are supposed to do — he made foul shots,” Musselman said. “He’s a big body and he did a great job drawing free throws tonight.”
“We just realized we weren’t communicating enough ahead of time and that we weren’t playing hard enough on defense and helping each other out,” Perry added of what turned his night around. “We just wanted to help each other out in the second half and if we got stops and played patiently on offense we could win the game.”
With the result, Perry’s recent run has coincided with a midseason renaissance of sorts for the Bulldogs.
After dropping its opening three conference games in demoralizing fashion — including a 21-point dismantling by an Alabama squad that’s hovered around .500 much of the season — MSU now sits at 3-3 in SEC play following wins over Missouri, Georgia and Arkansas — three games in which Perry combined for 71 points and 35 rebounds.
Heading into the heart of conference play, the Bulldogs’ NCAA tournament resume has also begun to take form. Sitting at No. 59 in the NET rankings heading into Wednesday’s win, MSU now own three quadrant two wins and boast four opportunities against quadrant one opponents — at Oklahoma, at Arkansas, at Florida and at Kentucky — over the season’s final two months.
With Perry now matching his preseason first team All-SEC nod on the court, the Bulldogs are projected to finish 20-11 according to KenPom.com — a mark that would likely land MSU in the field of 64.
That said, Howland remains focused on the task at hand — a Saturday date with Oklahoma in Oklahoma City as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
“We’re playing good basketball right now and it’s on to the next game,” he said. “It’s one at a time. We’ve won the last three and obviously we want to go out and continue to improve and grow and I think we’re doing that right now as a team. We can play better than we’re playing.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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