Led by sophomore Ravern Johnson’s 19 points and junior Jarvis Varnado’s eight blocks, the Mississippi State Bulldogs men’s basketball team defeated the Montevallo Falcons 88-59 in an exhibition game Saturday at Humphrey Coliseum.
“I thought in the first half, we were typical, what you’d expect from a young team. It wasn’t about guys not trying to work, I just thought we were a bit overaggressive,” MSU head coach Rick Stansbury said. “I thought we settled down a bit in the second half.”
Johnson led the Bulldogs in scoring with 19 points, hitting eight of 14 shots, including three three-pointers. He had four rebounds on the night.
“A big part of this team is that guards gotta rebound, so [Stansbury] put a big emphasis on me, because of my height and athleticism, to go get rebounds,” Johnson said. “He tells me I need to get at least six, seven rebounds a game to help us win, so that can be my goal for every game.”
Freshman point guard Dee Bost had 13 points and seven assists in his first appearance in the Maroon and White.
“At the beginning of the game, I was real nervous, but after a few minutes I got comfortable,” Bost said. “When I get the ball, I’m going to run. I love running every time because it creates easy shots, and getting to the lane keeps the defense on its heels. So when I get it, I just like everyone to run and just look when I’m dribbling on the court.”
Stansbury praised Bost’s playing style.
“If I’m a player playing with him, I’d be smiling, because all you gotta do is run. If I’m the player, I’m gonna sprint every time, because he’s gonna get you the basketball,” Stansbury said. “Naturally, he’s a freshman. A lot of things he has to learn, but it’s very obvious he helps everybody get a lot of easy baskets out there, and he has great ability to defend once he really locks into what we’re doing.”
The entire team is focusing on passing the ball to open players this season. The Bulldogs registered 23 assists Friday, much higher than last year’s average of 13.2 assists per game.
“The thing that was most pleasing to me is that I thought we shared that basketball. I thought that basketball flowed through a lot of people, a lot of people made extra passes and that’s the thing I liked,” Stansbury said. “I think we can be a team, because of our ability to share the basketball, a team that can help get a lot higher percentage shots for each other, and in turn, I think the team will shoot a much higher percentage shot.”
Varnado, who had a double-double with 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks, also had four assists on the night.
“That’s what we do better than we did last year. We’re unselfish, everybody’s passing the ball, looking to make the extra pass when they’re open,” Varnado said.
Off the bench, sophomore Kodi Augustus scored seven points and five rebounds, while sophomore Elgin Bailey added five points and four rebounds. Most notably, freshman Romero Osby had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
“[Osby]’s very active. He plays hard every day. He’s very active with that basketball,” Stansbury said. “In time, he’s going to be a terrific player for us.”
As a team, the Bulldogs, who ranked second in the NCAA Division I last season in field goal percentage, held the Falcons to 23 of 71 shots, for 32.4 percent. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Falcons 62-37 and blocked 13 shots as a team.
The Falcons, who play in the NCAA Division II Gulf South Conference, were led by junior college transfers Marcus Lancaster and Freddy Little, who provided 10 points each in their debut. Junior Nate Flowers added eight points and nine rebounds.
The Bulldogs will be back in action Saturday at 2 p.m. against two-time defending NAIA champions Oklahoma City in another exhibition game. They open the regular season on Nov. 15 against Centenary.