Mississippi State men’s basketball coach Rick Stansbury faces a debate about which style his team will implement at 6 p.m. today (ESPN2) when it faces No. 19 Texas A&M in the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The question involves junior Renardo Sidney, a player the Bulldogs’ 14th-year coach admits has been his most difficult to coach.
MSU officials confirmed the 6-foot-10 post player is expected to play tonight when MSU (1-1) takes the floor. However, MSU showcased an up-tempo, high powered approach Saturday in an 80-65 victory against the University of South Alabama without Sidney.
“We really haven’t had a chance to practice that. Against South Alabama, we used it and we weren’t used to playing that way,” Stansbury said. “That’s just playing with one big. I don’t know if we can’t play that way, and it may not matter who the big is.”
With Sidney and University of Texas at El Paso transfer Arnett
Moultrie, MSU could have one of the nation’s best front-court duos, but Sidney’s admitted uphill climb in conditioning seemingly has turned the game into a half-court affair.
“There’s no question about his skill level and upside,” Stansbury said. “Those things are potential. His biggest thing is he is better than he was. His attitude has been much better. His biggest thing is getting him conditioned enough to where he can play the amount of minutes you need him to play and be efficient in those minutes.”
Against South Alabama, MSU forced 19 turnovers with a four-guard lineup. The Bulldogs received a lift from freshman guard DeVille Smith, who was back to 100 percent after an unknown illness forced him to make an extended hospital stay in the final week of preseason.
“We really thought that 20 minutes helped our rotation to rest Dee some and slide him over a little bit,” Stansbury said. “Just having him back has been big for us.”
Moultrie showed Saturday against a smaller and less physical South Alabama squad that he’s versatile enough to play power forward or center in either style, and that he can shine defensively and on the boards as an athletic forward.
It’s unclear how MSU will answer these questions as it starts what could be the program’s most grueling non-conference schedule. The winner/loser of today’s matchup will face Arizona or St. John’s on Friday on ESPN2. MSU also will play West Virginia, Detroit, and Utah State before the start of Southeastern Conference play.
“We are facing a great team in Texas A&M, who was picked to win their conference (Big 12),” Stansbury said. “They have a lot of experienced players back from a year ago, and we will have to play at
our very best. We’re playing at Madison Square Garden, and our players are excited about that opportunity. They understand the history of the building and what it means to play there.”
Texas A&M lost coach Mark Turgeon when he left for the University of Maryland in the offseason. In October, coach Billy Kennedy was diagnosed with the early stages of Parkinson’s disease. Kennedy gave his team a lift by being expected to be on the bench for these matchups.
“Anytime you don’t have you’re commander in chief, it’s going to have some time of effect. Our guys have been very resilient and that is because we have a good veteran leadership team with some guys with high character,” Texas A&M associate head coach Glenn Cyprien said. “Coach’s health has been a day-to-day challenge for him. He was back coaching the team with really good energy. The guys really fed off that last night. To have him around is a blessing.”
Kennedy won’t have his best player, as standout forward Khris Middleton will miss three to four weeks after he had surgery Friday to repair a partially torn right meniscus.
The 6-7, 210-pound Middleton hurt his knee in the first half of an 81-59 win against Liberty. An MRI exam showed the tear after the team’s medical staff initially thought Middleton had hurt his hamstring. Middleton was A&M’s leading scorer (14.4 points per game) and second-leading rebounder (5.2 per game) last season.
“Going into the game without Khris (Middleton), we had some concerns as to how we were going to manufacture points, and that’s going to be a concern until we get him back,” Cyprien said. “Other guys are going to have to step up and some guys have.”
The Aggies will try to speed up the tempo after defensive rebounds to
make it difficult for the Bulldogs to set up their defense. Junior forward Ray Turner (20 ppg.) and junior guard Elston Turner (13.5) and senior forward David Loubeau (12.5) lead the way.
“Tempo is going to be everything,” Cyprien said. “We have to make sure we get back in transition and contest 3-point shots. We’ve got to keep them off the glass.”
Senior point guard Dee Bost leads MSU in scoring at (17.5 ppg.). He is 55 assists shy of the all-time school record of 514 set by Derrick Zimmerman in 2003.
“These are the type of games you practice hard and work hard for,” Bost said. “We feel like we have a lot to prove.”
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