STARKVILLE — Mississippi State overcame its first real adversity of the season Sunday, coming back from an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat Utah in Southaven. That experience, head coach Chris Jans said, will be critical for the Bulldogs in difficult moments later in the year.
“Glad we won the game, but equally important is we got something in the tank,” Jans said. “I didn’t know how they would respond. I knew what I wanted them to do, I knew what all of us in the fan base wanted them to do, but we’ll use that. We’ll be in a situation like that, either at halftime or a media (timeout) huddle where we’ll talk about that game. We’ll talk about (how) we’ve been there, done that.”
MSU shot just 23 percent from the floor in the first half and was a mere 1-for-13 from 3-point range. In the second half, the Bulldogs shot 50 percent, and Josh Hubbard scored 20 of his 23 points after the break and was 4-for-5 from distance during that stretch. Michael Nwoko had 11 rebounds in just 16 minutes of action, addressing what has been MSU’s biggest shortcoming so far this season.
KeShawn Murphy had a double-double with 18 points and 14 boards, while Riley Kugel and Cameron Matthews helped the Bulldogs (4-0) stay in front late. MSU missed its last 14 shots of the first half but made eight in a row late in the second half, going from down by four to up by seven.
“If practice is an indicator of how well an individual is going to play on a nightly basis, we should expect (Murphy) to have really good games all year long,” Jans said. “There certainly will be some ups and downs, like there are for most college basketball players, but he’s been so consistent with his approach to practice, and equally consistent has been his productivity. He’s been great.”
Scouting SMU
The Bulldogs travel to Dallas on Friday night for a battle with the Mustangs (4-1), who have won all four of their home games comfortably and lost by 11 at Butler last Friday. SMU is led by first-year head coach Andy Enfield, who spent 11 seasons at Southern California and reached five NCAA Tournaments with the Trojans, including a run to the Elite Eight in 2021.
The Mustangs are scoring 91.8 points per game and have four players averaging double figures, led by former Central Michigan and Wake Forest guard Boopie Miller’s 18.4. Sixth man Chuck Harris, power forward Yohan Traore and 7-foot, 2-inch Turkish freshman Samet Yigitoglu are all strong on the offensive end. B.J. Edwards and Kario Oquendo round out the starting lineup.
“It’s going to be the first (team) we’ve played thus far that has big-time size,” Jans said. “Not just who they start but who they come off the bench with. They have quality size up and down their roster, and we haven’t faced that all year long. We don’t have that in our practices. It’ll be different. The court will be shrunk. It’ll feel smaller at times for us than it normally does.”
MSU excelled in neutral-site games last year but was just 2-8 in true road games, not earning its first road win until February. Friday night’s game is one of two true road tests for this year’s Bulldogs in non-conference play, with the other taking place closer to home against Memphis on Dec. 21.
“It’s a source of pride for us,” Jans said. “You find out what you’re made of when you’re in those situations, and this will be our first crack at it to see what our mindset is when we don’t have people cheering for us. I don’t know what to expect. I know what I want, but we’ll see how it unfolds. It’s a great test for us.”
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