After a seven-month layoff, MSU head coach Rick Stansbury expected it to take a little time for his team to return to form. However, on Saturday in the Bulldogs’ 71-60 exhibition win over the University of the Cumberlands, the length of time it took for Mississippi State to knock off the rust caught the players and coaches off guard.
The game ended the way State had anticipated, with its second string running the court and the starters resting comfortably on the bench, but it took a run deep in the second half before the Bulldogs could relax.
The last nine minutes of the game are where head coach Rick Stansbury said he saw his team come alive in the game.
“I thought for the first time in that stretch, there was a little bit of urgency in what we were trying to do,” Stansbury said. “Even though we missed some free throws, I thought they played with the energy and urgency you need to at that point.”
At that moment State was clinging to a 53-52 lead, before going on an 18-8 run to close out the contest.
Junior point guard Jamont Gordon, who said he saw his team was in need, took over the game down the stretch.
Still leading by one point with seven minutes remaining, Gordon forced two quick turnovers of Patriots guard Curtis Cross and turned them into two fast-break lay-ups, pushing State’s lead to five.
Gordon, who went the entire first half without a field goal, finished the game with 11 points and seven rebounds. His first goal came early in the second half, by way of a three-pointer.
Stansbury said that while Gordon may not have had the best shooting night, when the time presented itself, he was able to make things happen.
“I think the biggest thing is that while he didn’t score a lot today, he still didn’t make a lot of bad things happen,” Stansbury said. “I think he’s grown out of having to score all the time, but in that last five or six minutes when the game was on the line, he turned it up.”
Gordon said that with it being the first game, it took him a little time to get comfortable and execute.
“For the first game, you’re always rusty,” Gordon said. “Practice is good because it helps you prepare for the game, but there’s nothing like a real game.”
The University of the Cumberlands presented Mississippi State with a tough matchup, with the Bulldogs’ big men having to guard smaller, quicker guards.
Having to fight with the screening action of the Patriots, and adding in a tough shooting night, kept the University of the Cumberlands in the game.
State struggled in the first half, shooting only 33 percent from the field, and also went 12-of-25 from the free throw line, taking a slim 32-29 lead into halftime.
The Patriots relied heavily on screens, which kept Bulldog big men on the perimeter.
Senior forward Charles Rhodes said the screening caused for a tough match-up.
“The four-man I was guarding had me running through screens and double screens all night,” Rhodes said. “It’s a good thing for us to experience, for down the road though.”
The Bulldogs started its five returning players of Gordon, sophomores Ben Hansbrough, Barry Stewart and Jarvis Varnado, and Rhodes.
Newcomers Phil Turner, Riley Benock, Ravern Johnson, Kodi Augustus and Brian Johnson served as the second team.
Stansbury and his staff did very little mixing of the players, staying mostly with each unit, but he said that while finding substitutes is important, Saturday was about getting his younger guys playing time.
“We were just letting some guys get some game experience tonight,” Stansbury said. “Naturally, as this thing goes on, we’ll get it down to nine guys and get a rhythm. ”
Varnado had a strong outing for his first game, scoring 13 points with 11 rebounds and was two blocks shy of a triple-double.
Mississippi State will continue with exhibition play tonight when the Bulldogs will face Oklahoma City University at 7 p.m.
Oklahoma City won the 2007 NAIA Division I national title and finished last season with a 35-2 record.
The Stars lost their first two games last season, including a 71-64 loss to Mississippi State, before securing 35 straight wins.