Mississippi State Basketball: 3 Things We Learned From Comeback vs Vols
Mississippi State basketball mounted an impressive comeback to beat the Tennessee Volunteers in a Saturday afternoon SEC matchup.
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Ben Howland’s group desperately needed a victory against Tennessee to help get the season back on track. Experts would’ve said was imperative for the Bulldogs to come out hot from the opening tip. No way could a team with this much youth and inexperience, and without there senior point guard, afford to fall behind early.
But fall behind is exactly what the Mississippi State basketball team did Saturday afternoon at Humphrey Coliseum.
Tennessee opened the game on a 17-2 run with the Bulldogs missing their first nine shots. MSU’s largest deficit would come late in the first half as they found themselves down 29-10. Mississippi State would end the first half on a 12-4 run make the halftime score 33-21 in favor of UT.
The Bulldogs literally could not buy a basket in the first half shooting just twenty percent and thirty three percent from the free throw line. For a team that has struggled to fill the arena, this was an absolute nightmare start for Mississippi State.
Any momentum the Bulldogs carried in the halftime seemed to be lost when MSU came out of the locker room sluggish once again in the second half. Thankfully State’s youngsters flipped a switch early in the second and began to claw away at the Volunteer lead.
Mississippi State shot over forty-two percent in the second have both from the field and from beyond the arc. This propelled the Bulldogs to a 25-9 run to end the game with the win. Tennessee falls to 13-10 and 5-5 in the SEC, while our Bulldogs move to 14-8 and 5-5.
So what did we learn from this tail of two halves type game?
Feb 4, 2017; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs players talk during a free throw in the second half of the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Humphrey Coliseum. Mississippi State won 64-59. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Youth Factor
Foremost we were reminded of the theme of this years basketball team: youth. Coach Howland went with a nine man rotation for the game and all nine players that logged minutes are freshmen and sophomores.
Every Mississippi State player that played in this game made their MSU debut this season with the exception of Quinndary Weatherspoon and Aric Holman. I am not generally one to use something like youth as a crutch but facts are facts. This team is learning as they go and this comeback could be a huge learning moment.
I.J. Ready Is Missed
Another take away from this game is that this team really misses I.J. Ready. WHOA. Trust me I never thought I would be saying that any team needed IJ Ready. Honestly coming into this season my opinion of Ready was basically he’s an undersized point guard who takes way too many shots.
But there is no denying how instrumental IJ has been to this Bulldog team. His senior leadership is intangible when dealing with a team this young. Not to mention without Ready, Lamar Peters is really the only point guard on the team.
I think it is totally reasonable to suggest that with a senior point guard on the floor Mississippi State never falls behind to begin with.
Mario Kegler (4) reacts during the second half of the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Humphrey Coliseum. Mississippi State won 64-59. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports” width=”6212″ height=”4192″ /> Feb 4, 2017; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs guard Mario Kegler (4) reacts during the second half of the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Humphrey Coliseum. Mississippi State won 64-59. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Depth
Probably with most impressive thing about this game is that Quinn Weatherspoon and Lamar Peters stunk. Mississippi State’s two best players played poorly and MSU still found away to get a win. Weatherspoon and Peters combined to shoot 4-26 and score 11 points for the whole game. No sane person in the world would’ve picked MSU to win had they known that stat.
This really speaks volumes about the talent Ben Howland has accumulated. Schnider Herard had a career high 15 rebounds to go along with 12 points. Mario Kegler led Mississippi State in scoring with 17 and added 9 rebounds.
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My choice for player of the game is Xavian Stapleton who had is first career triple double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. If some of these guys can step up and produce with consistency imagine how good this team will be when Q and Peters get back on track.
Mississippi State is back in action Tuesday night at Auburn.
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