On Thursday of last week, the Mississippi State men’s basketball team played its final game of the season, losing 69-53 in the second round of the SEC tournament to Tennessee.
Despite the loss, State still ended what was overall a rough year on a bit of a high note, winning three of its final five games. One of those wins came in the first round of the SEC tournament over South Carolina.
The Bulldogs finished the season with an overall record of 10-22 and 4-14 in the SEC. But the season cannot be judged on this team’s record alone. The Dogs played the majority of the season with only seven scholarship players, most of who were freshmen. Injuries took the wind out of the Dogs’ sail from the jump and hindered how effective they could be all season.
Some positives did come out of the injuries, including all of the playing time and valuable game experience a lot of the young players gained this season. Freshmen Gavin Ware, Fred Thomas, Trivante Bloodman and Craig Sword all played significant minutes for MSU all season. Ware and Sword were named to the SEC All-Freshman team.
Head coach Rick Ray said he was pleased with how his young players progressed throughout the season.
“I was really pleased that two of our kids made the all-freshman team, and I think you could have made a case that Fred Thomas could have been part of that as well,” Ray said. “The thing I’m most happy with is the improvement of all our players individually throughout the season.”
This past season was Ray’s first season as the head coach of the Bulldogs and as a head coach period. Members of the student body recognized and appreciated Ray’s efforts this season.
Junior business administration major Telvin Hadley said he also felt like Ray did the best he could with what he had.
“There were a lot of injuries, and the team was very young, and despite that, the team never quit and always played hard,” Hadley said. “It’s better to see a team that plays hard even if they lose than what we had to watch with last year’s team, which underachieved and had players that did not play hard.”
Even though this year was not a success as far as numbers go, Ray said he believes the future has bright potential. The Bulldogs will have all of their scholarship players returning next season, including senior Wendell Lewis who was able to get a medical redshirt and will be allowed to play another season.
Ray said he is excited about having a full roster next season and the opportunities it will create.
“We have a situation now where there is going to be a lot of competition. A lot of guys who played a lot of minutes this year might not play as much next year,” Ray said. “I’m going to tell my guys I don’t decide the playing time; they do.”
MSU is expected to have 13 scholarship players next season, almost double the amount the Dogs had on most nights this year.