STARKVILLE — Turn the page.
Rock n’ roll fans likely have sung along with Bob Seger’s classic on nights they have been wandering on a lonely road somewhere what seems like a million miles from home.
Seger sings about the weariness of traveling from city to city and being in the spotlight on a stage in front of thousands of fans in the song that was recorded in 1972 and released in 1973. The live version, released in 1976, has stood the test of time and served as an old friend to many commuters in need of a pick-me-up on a long trip.
At nearly 500 miles, the jaunt from Starkville to Fayetteville, Arkansas, is long enough to make your thoughts drift away to other things before you arrive at your destination.
Vic Schaefer hopes his Mississippi State women’s basketball players don’t think back to a history-making night Thursday because he knows it could hurt their focus for their next task.
“We have to go on to the next one,” Schaefer said Friday after No. 13 MSU went through its first day of practice for its game at 2 p.m. today against Arkansas. “We have already stubbed our toe once — maybe twice even — on the road, so we have got to go in there and be prepared mentally as well as physically.”
No. 13 MSU defeated No. 19 Tennessee 65-63 in overtime Thursday at Humphrey Coliseum. The victory was the program’s first in 37 meetings against the Lady Volunteers. The Bulldogs needed the victory because it snapped a two-game losing skid and a run in which they had lost three of their last four games.
In the Southeastern Conference, a run like that can get you into trouble. It can be especially damaging for a team like MSU (18-4, 5-3) that hopes to earn its second-consecutive top-four finish in the 14-team league. To do that, MSU will have to keep its focus and win the games “the experts” figure it is supposed to win.
A year ago, MSU accomplished that goal, recording a program-best 11 wins and finishing third in the final SEC regular-season standings. This season, a similar finish would help bolster MSU’s NCAA tournament resume and improve its chances of earning an opportunity to play host to the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament.
But Schafer knows the Bulldogs have a lot of work to do and a long road left to travel to realize any of those goals.
“We have to play better,” Schaefer said. “We really struggled in some areas (against Tennessee). We have to fix that. Sometimes the victory overshadows some things you don’t do well. We have already watched film and, as I like to say, the film doesn’t lie.”
Tennessee had success attacking MSU’s player-to-player defense and getting to the rim. The Lady Volunteers were able to do that so well from all five positions that it forced Schaefer to switch from the player-to-player defense his team nearly always plays to a matchup zone. The move played a big role in Tennessee going 1-for-8 from the field in the fourth quarter, which helped MSU erase a 55-43 deficit and force overtime.
Another area of concern is offense, where MSU shot 32.9 percent (24 of 73, 3 of 16 from 3-point range). Morgan William and Victoria Vivians hit big shots, but they were 4 of 17 and 4 of 16 from the field, respectively, on a night when the Bulldogs often stalled on offense and they were fortunate they made several shots late or at the end of the 30-second shot clock.
MSU has shot better than 45 percent from the field only once in its last 13 games. The Bulldogs are shooting 37.6 percent (320 of 851) in a stretch that has seen them go 10-3. MSU has earned resume-building wins against Florida, Florida Gulf Coast, Auburn, Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Tennessee in that stretch, but Schaefer wants to see improvement in several areas. He wants to see the Bulldogs get out in transition so they can score more easy baskets. He wants to see William, who set a personal record for shots attempted in her MSU career against Tennessee, continue to be aggressive on offense. He also wants to see the Bulldogs be smarter and more efficient on offense.
“I thought (against Tennessee) we took much better shots and got good looks,” said Schaefer, whose team has slipped to 10th in the SEC in field goal percentage (40.5). “I was much more pleased with our shot selection.”
Schaefer continued a theme that has been a staple of his program when he said MSU would continue to watch film and to talk about how it can get better. He said he will continue to encourage his players — Vivians, in particular — to attack. He was pleased Vivians made all five of her free-throw attempts, but the 6-foot-1 sophomore guard has attempted five or more free throws only five times this season. She still leads the SEC in scoring at 17.5 points per game and is 11th in field goal percentage (38 percent).
Of players in the top 10 in the SEC in scoring, only Ole Miss’ Shandricka Sessom (31) and Georgia’s Tiaria Griffin (37) have attempted fewer free throws than Vivians (41).
Schaefer hopes the Bulldogs’ inside game will continue to develop to give the team a source of production. Junior center Chinwe Okorie was 5 of 8 from the field and had 10 points and eight rebounds against Tennessee. She has shown an ability to use her 6-5 frame and strength to carve out position deep in the lane to put herself in great position. A year after shooting 42.6 percent from the field, Okorie is shooting 59.5 percent from the field. Schaefer said he hopes to help freshman center Teaira McCowan find a way to slow down so she is able to get back to the rate of production that saw her post four double-digit scoring games in the first two months of the season. The 6-7 McCowan has scored in double figures twice in the last 11 games.
When asked if getting McCowan to slow down is something that applies to all of his players, Schaefer said, “You don’t need to rush. If you need to rush it maybe you don’t need to take it. When we share the basketball we usually we will find a good shot or a great shot.”
After parsing all of the numbers, Schaefer expressed confidence that the Bulldogs will be able to re-focus for the first step against Arkansas (9-12, 4-4), which is coming off a 71-66 overtime loss to Florida in Fayetteville. Arkansas has defeated Texas A&M, Tennessee, and Missouri at home, so the initial step won’t be easy.
On Thursday, MSU will go on the road to face LSU, which won at Georgia 53-46 on Jan. 24. Georgia defeated MSU 47-44 on Jan. 21 in Athens, Georgia.
Wins in those two games will help MSU, which is third in the league thanks to a tiebreaker against Florida, solidify its place near the top of the league. Eight teams are up to two games behind MSU, so Schaefer knows his team doesn’t have a large margin for error as it gets deeper into the second half of the league schedule.
“Our staff does a good job of keeping our kids grounded,” Schaefer said. “Our kids understand the importance of moving to the next game, and while it was great and fun (against Tennessee) and you’re awfully proud, you have to move on.
“We’re nowhere close (to where we want to be) and yet we’re still fairly successful to date and awfully skilled. That is part of having a young basketball team and an inexperienced basketball team. … If we can ever get them executing better and shooting 45 percent, I don’t think there is any doubt that I don’t know if we lose another game. That is how good this team can be.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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