STARKVILLE — Three games into his career, freshman point guard IJ Ready is fed up with the play of the Mississippi State men’s basketball team.
Ready returned from a severe hamstring injury Thursday night and called out himself and his teammates for poor play after a 71-61 loss to TCU at Humphrey Coliseum in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
When asked what Ready saw on the final boxscore that stood out, Ready said MSU (5-2) “took 18 3-pointers and (Ready) made the only three for the team.” MSU’s inability to shoot TCU out of a 2-3 zone helped the Horned Frogs build an 18-point lead in the second half.
Ready was critical of his teammates’ work ethic, saying MSU was “basically a team filled with guards except for Gavin Ware” and it wasn’t putting the time in before and after practice to make open shots in games.
“We need to get (Craig Sword) more help on the offensive end,” Ready said. “If we are going to shoot 18 3-pointers in the game, we have to make more of them. We have to get to the gym and make shots. Some of us aren’t getting in the gym and putting the work in.”
MSU coach Rick Ray had no problem with Ready calling out his teammates. Ready is the only freshman on the active roster , and figures to be a major part of Ray’s rebuilding efforts.
“I think IJ is a winner and sees what’s going on, so he’s somebody that’s not going to put up with not competing especially on the defensive end,” Ray said. “As a coach, I don’t know how you would describe ‘it’, but IJ Ready has what it takes to win.”
Ready said he was frustrated by MSU’s defensive effort. Once MSU was allowing easy baskets, TCU was able to set up its zone defense and make it a half-court game.
“It starts with our defense,” Ready said. “We have to get in practice and work harder at getting stops. Some of the guys on this team have to know our wins will come when we decide to play better defense. That’s when our offense will turn around.”
Ready missed nearly a month after he severely strained a hamstring in the second game of the season against Kennesaw State. In 23 minutes Thursday, Ready had nine points and zero assists. Ray said he was cautious with Ready’s playing time in his first game back.
“I’m not going to risk further injury with IJ, and that’s why you saw me constantly asking him ‘Are you OK’ and ‘Do you need to come out?,’ ” Ray said. “I thought he did fine considering it was his first game back against a Bowl Championship Series opponent.”
Sword, who had a game-high 24 points, said MSU settled for jump shots too early in the shot clock because of the zone. He was more vocal in his frustration throughout the evening. He yelled at Ready early in the game for not moving the ball on offense and senior forward Colin Borchert for taking quick shots.
“A lot of the time, guys didn’t know what defense we were in or what to do against that zone,” Sword said. “I’ll admit I was in the wrong position sometimes, too, but I thought we needed a vocal leader out there.”
Follow Matt Stevens on Twitter @matthewcstevens.
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