Mississippi State will go to the SEC Tournament on a three game winning streak after holding on to beat South Carolina 60-58 on Senior Day.
Senior Ravern Johnson has been one of the driving forces in the winning streak, scoring over 20 points in all three games. Johnson scored 21 points Saturday, all on seven 3-pointers, which left him one shy of the school record for 3s made in a game.
After the emotional win, Stansbury is confident in his team as it heads to Atlanta, where State will play the winner of the LSU and Vanderbilt matchup on Friday night.
“I think it’s very obvious that we’re playing our best ball of the year right now,” Stansbury said.
That claim by Stansbury certainly seems true. Since losing three out of four games in an 11-day stretch in mid-February, two of which came to the fifth and sixth place teams in the West, the Bulldogs have picked up two key road wins and secured a bye in the SEC Tournament.
Saturday’s Senior Day win was fittingly propelled by the team’s seniors. Along with Johnson’s 21 points, Kodi Augustus had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds and hit a fade-away jumper with 28 seconds left which helped seal the win for MSU.
The Bulldogs did most of the damage from behind the arc, with 11 of the team’s 19 field goals coming from three-point range. MSU took advantage of the hot shooting and held a 53-40 lead with 5:32 left in the game after a Dee Bost jumper.
Turnovers then became an issue for the Bulldogs after they gave up four turnovers in a two minute span as they allowed the Gamecocks to go on a 16-4 run in the game’s final minutes.
MSU held a one point lead with the shot clock running down when Riley Benock found Augustus for a momentum-swinging fall-away jumper which put the Bulldogs up 59-56 with 28 seconds left.
“Riley drove the ball towards me, I knew the shot clock was running down and I just tried to get the ball in the goal, and I did that,” Augustus said.
The game then took a bizarre turn as Stansbury was whistled for a technical foul while trying to call a timeout after Augustus’ shot. Stansbury went well onto the court to get the referee’s attention, and after the official ran by him he turned around and called the technical.
South Carolina’s Malik Cooke made both of his free throws following the technical, but the Gamecocks final two possessions ended with misses from freshman point guard Bruce Ellington, and the Bulldogs held on for the 60-58 win.
After the game, Bost said Augustus’s fade-away is actually something he has worked on in practice.
“He thinks he’s Kobe Bryant,” Bost said. “He practices that shot a lot just playing around, and he makes it.”
Stansbury was quick to point out the changes Augustus has made in his attitude in his time at MSU. Augustus was suspended for criticizing Stansbury after last year’s season-opening loss to Rider.
“When he walks out these doors in April with his degree, I don’t worry about him now,” Stansbury said. “He understands what it takes off the court, and because of all that, he has become a better player.
Johnson, whose play has improved since coming back from his suspension for criticizing Stansbury via Twitter, will be a key factor as the Bulldogs face must-win games in Atlanta. After advancing the championship game the last two years, Johnson said the team usually plays better this time of year.
“We’ve got a lot of momentum going into the SEC Tournament,” Johnson said. “I feel like we always play good in the SEC Tournament, just something about the tournament that we always put it together at the end.”
While senior Riley Benock did not make it into the scoring column in his home finale, Stansbury praised his defensive effort, which he said relies on smarts more than skills.
Renardo Sidney, who had a quiet double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, briefly left the game in the first half due to a foot injury, but he returned soon after and the injury appears to be a non-issue.