Less than a month ago, MSU was ranked 23rd in the Associated Press Top 25 and it appeared they would cruise to an SEC Western Division title after a 3-0 start to league play. Four losses in five games later, the Bulldogs are falling behind in the SEC West race and are on the wrong side of the NCAA tournament bubble.
The latest bracket projections from ESPN’s Bracketology expert Joe Lunardi have MSU outside of the Big Dance.
Senior Jarvis Varnado said MSU is good enough to make the tournament, regardless of what people in the media say.
“We feel were a tournament team, but other people might not think that,” Varnado said. “We still need some big wins down the road.”
Fortunately for Varnado and the Bulldogs, the road gets easier from here on.
After a brutal stretch of the schedule that saw MSU drop four consecutive conference road games, five of the Bulldogs’ final eight games will be played at The Hump.
Two of those road games come against SEC West cellar-dwellers LSU and Auburn.
LSU is still searching for their first SEC win, while Auburn is in fifth place in the West. The most challenging road trip left for the Bulldogs is a Feb. 27 game against South Carolina, who upset Kentucky on their home court in January.
Starting with last night’s game against Ole Miss, MSU has a crucial three-game home stand that continues with Saturday’s game against Auburn and Tuesday’s nationally televised game against Kentucky.
Head coach Rick Stansbury said he hopes his team can draw energy from the crowd in the team’s remaining home games.
“It’s important every game to have big crowds,” Stansbury said. “One thing we have going for us that gives us a chance is our energy and toughness were trying to play with. Any kind of energy, enthusiasm and emotion that you can pull from somewhere else and get helps you.”
Sophomore point guard Dee Bost said he was relieved to be back home after road losses to Vanderbilt and Florida last week.
“We’ve been on the road for a while,” Bost said. “[We’re] glad to be home so we can get some momentum going.”
If there is one positive from the seven games the Bulldogs have lost, it is that other than the 14-point loss in the season opener to Rider, no loss has been by more than five points. However, that also makes the losses that much more painful for Bost.
“It’s [very] frustrating,” Bost said. “I’d rather lose by 20 then lose by like 1, 2 or 3. It’s been tough.”
Nine of the MSU’s last 10 games have been decided by nine points or less, with the Bulldogs going 5-5 in that stretch.
Stansbury has said all season that the lack of depth at the point guard and post positions is a major concern, but midway through the SEC slate the Bulldogs have yet to find a reliable backup at either position.
Reserve center Elgin Bailey is “100 percent recovered” from his ankle injury that has sidelined him all season, but Stansbury said he will not use him this season so that he will be available next year.
Stansbury said he is also uncomfortable giving freshman Wendell Lewis and John Riek extended minutes backing up Varnado because of their lack of experience.
“It’s very tough to put either of them in there for any kind of extended minutes just because of the lack of experience,” Stansbury said. “As desperate as we our for some post play, it’s very obvious we need some kind of post backup.”
At this point it appears the Bulldogs’ only hope for depth in the post for the rest of the season is if Renardo Sidney is ruled eligible to play by the NCAA.
However, even if he does become eligible, he is not likely to be in good playing shape.
Despite four consecutive road losses, Bost remains optimistic about the final stretch of the season, which will mostly consist of games played in Starkville.
“We know in our hearts that we can still win,” Bost said. “We had a chance to win every game that we’ve played in conference play. Everybody is still hot, we just gotta keep coming out and work hard every day.”