For the ninth time in 11 tries under head coach Rick Stansbury, the Bulldogs kicked off their season with a win Saturday, besting the Centenary Gentlemen 77-55.
State set the pace early, opening up a 7-0 lead on a free throw and back to back three-pointers by sophomore Ravern Johnson and freshman point guard Dee Bost. The Dawgs never looked back and led from that point on.
Johnson led the Bulldogs in scoring with 15 points on 5 of 8 shooting from three-point range.
“He does that every day,” Stansbury said of Johnson. “There’s no surprise there. I don’t ever question his ability to shoot.”
Johnson wasn’t the only Bulldog to hit shots from downtown, as 30 of State’s 77 points came from behind the arc. State hit better than 45 percent from three-point range.
Centenary head coach Greg Gary said he knew coming in the Bulldogs had good shooters.
“They did a great job hitting open shots,” Gary said. “We tried several defenses to offset them.”
Gary praised Bost, who added nine points and four assists.
“Bost did a heck of a job getting the ball to the shooters,” Gary said. “He’s got good speed and great control of the ball.”
Gary added that Bost was much faster than he appeared to be on film.
With a 10-point lead and about 12 minutes left in the first half, Stansbury opted to substitute for all five starters.
Stansbury said the second group gave him a different skill set in addition to giving the starting five a breather.
“With that bunch, what immediately jumps out about them is the toughness,” Stansbury said. “You lose a little bit of the skill level and the ability to do some other things, but you gain toughness with that group.”
The Bulldogs spread the scoring among 10 players. Other than Johnson, only junior guard Barry Stewart, who added 13 points, and sophomore forward Elgin Bailey, who added 10, scored in double figures on the contest.
Stansbury said though he likes the team to share the ball, it’s important to have players to count on every game.
“We need to establish some people who give us the same every night,” Stansbury said. “We’re not going to be a one-two kind of team. We’re going to be a more balanced team.”
Junior center Jarvis Varnado also said this was a more balanced team than last year’s.
“We don’t have the one terrific scorer like we’ve had in the past, so we’ve just got to share the ball,” he said.
Fans have come to expect a lot of blocks out of Varnado and he didn’t disappoint, turning away seven shots on the evening. Varnado tied the SEC record for blocks in a season last year.
The Bulldogs were without their lone returning senior, forward Brian Johnson, who suffered an ankle injury during practice last week. They also missed freshman Twany Beckham, who is recovering from a foot injury.
Stansbury said the coaching staff is being particularly careful with Beckham’s injury in order to prevent further injury.
“I know when you put him out there he’s going to forget about his foot,” Stansbury said. “Emotions are going to take over and he can very easily hurt it again. We’re going to be more on the cautious side with him.”
Stansbury said he expects Beckham to help the Bulldogs a lot once he returns.
The Bulldogs are in the middle of a stretch of four games in eight days. They played Louisiana-Monroe Monday, but the game didn’t finish until after time of production. The Dawgs host North Alabama Wednesday and Farleigh Dickinson Saturday in the regional rounds of the Legends Tournament.