Despite the depth problems that lead to MSU playing point guard Dee Bost all 45 minutes of Wednesday’s game and sophomore guard Jalen Steele cramping in overtime, MSU managed to play with enough urgency to take down South Carolina 69-67 on an overtime buzzer-beater.
The road win snaps MSU’s five-game losing streak and temporarily takes the heat off head coach Rick Stansbury. I don’t expect that heat to completely fade, but the team’s showing in the final few minutes of regulation and overtime at least leaves a positive taste in the mouth of angry fans for the next few days.
Saturday’s matchup with Arkansas marks the final home game for seniors Bost and Bryan Bryant, and the reality of their college careers winding down seems to have set in. Bryant has played better in the last month than any other stretch in his two-year career, culminating with his buzzer-beater on an inbound play to beat the Gamecocks.
It’s worth noting that without Bryant’s 16 points, four of which came in overtime, the losing skid would have likely continued. Bryant has been a role player for most of his two years in Starkville, but if he continues to play at this level it could be the type of performance that allows MSU to make a run in next week’s SEC Tournament similar to Kodi Augusts busting onto the scene during the 2009 tournament.
Speaking of that 2008-2009 team, that was the last MSU squad to make the NCAA Tournament, and even they would not have been there without winning four games in four days at the SEC Tournament. With as much talent that has come and gone the last three years, MSU should be doing better than two NIT appearances and a team currently living life on the NCAA Tournament bubble, a team that needed a last-second shot in overtime to defeat South Carolina, who is at the very bottom of the league standings by a comfortable two-game margin.
State allowed South Carolina to hang around and push for a comeback in the second half, much like the Bulldogs did in losses to Georgia and Auburn, who are 10th and 11th in the league standings, respectively. Fortunately on Wednesday, even with a very thin bench, MSU survived the scare and salvaged its NCAA Tournament hopes.
With Arkansas coming to Humphrey Coliseum for a 4 p.m. tipoff against MSU Saturday, the Bulldogs have another chance to add to their win total against a Razorback team that has only won one game on the road this season. MSU fell to Arkansas on the road earlier this season and stuggled to break the Razorbacks’ press. A second loss to Arkansas would hamper the Bulldogs’ tournament chances.
Making late-season runs is nothing new for MSU, but this was supposed to be a team that did not need to hold its breath in early March and worry about the NCAA selection committee. That’s where this team stands, though, still projected to make the field of 68 … for now.