Mississippi State freshman point guard Ben Hansbrough hopes cutting down the nets at the Humphrey Coliseum Sunday was just practice for things to come. Hansbrough helped lead Poplar Bluff High School to the 2004 Missouri 5A state title, then followed that with a repeat performance the following season.
In fact, with Sunday’s win over Alabama, Hansbrough has never been on a team that failed to win some type of championship.
“It was just such a great feeling knowing that all that hard work paid off,” Hansbrough said.
Hansbrough, younger brother of North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough, spent time lifting weights early in the morning and countless hours in the gym shooting and practicing various drills last summer. Hansbrough doesn’t mind, though. He is a self-proclaimed gym rat.
During the season, it seemed, at times, like his hard work was going to be in vain.
State stood at 2-5 in conference play and seemed destined for another long season.
But the young Bulldog club hit its stride in a game against LSU and has gone 6-3 down the stretch.
Hansbrough credits the turnaround to the team never showing panic.
“We just kept with the habit,” he said. “Kept practicing and kept working. We knew we were close.”
Hansbrough’s numbers slowed once conference play started, but there was never any extra pressure for the freshman to produce. He was frustrated, but he never got down.
“Sometimes I put pressure on myself to do well, but it only helps build my confidence,” he said.
Sunday State fans saw a confident and poised Hansbrough light up a dejected Crimson Tide squad.
He scored 13 points, dished out five assists and capped off his play with a 3-pointer that banked in as the shot-clock expired.
He also became the third MSU freshman to pass out more than 100 assists in a season.
Hansbrough is quick to down-play his performance.
“I don’t think it was my best game,” he said. “I just feel like I played like I was capable of.”
The Bulldogs hope to continue to ride the wave of their SEC West championship all the way to Atlanta and the SEC tournament, where they will play Kentucky today at noon.
While Hansbrough has a personal preference of who he would like to play when State take the court in Atlanta, he knows that whoever the Bulldogs face, they’ll be ready.
“Winning this division title has given us a lot of confidence going into the tournament,” he said.
And ready they better be.
Many of the bracketologists and college basketball analysts believe the Bulldogs are sitting squarely on the bubble and need to reach the finals in the SEC Tournament to make it into the NCAA Tournament.
Hansbrough agrees.
“We’ve got to go over to Atlanta and get it done,” he said.
He fully expects State to be in Atlanta until Sunday and leave the Georgia Dome with more hardware and hopefully an NCAA bid.