It wasn’t pretty, but Mississippi State beat Tennessee State 75-65 Friday night in the season opener.
For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 21 of 56 shots from the field (37.5 percent), 10 of 23 shots from 3-point range (43.5 percent) and 23 of 28 shots from the foul line (82.1 percent).
The Tigers hit 23 of 64 shots from the field (35.9 percent), 6 of 19 shots from 3-point range (31.6 percent) and 13 of 21 shots from the foul line (61.9 percent).
I’m glad Stansbury said it, so I would not get blasted for saying it, but State very well could have lost this game without Ravern Johnson. Luckily for Mississippi State, in this case anyway, basketball is not a game of would haves or could haves.
“You can see why I had a bad headache all week thinking about playing this team with no Ravern,” Stansbury said. “You look back afterwards and see we need his 32 points to win this game.”
Johnson had a huge night, scoring 32 points with a 7-17 showing, including hitting 5-9 from 3-point land and 13-14 on free throws. This performance vaulted him into MSU history, becoming the 32nd Bulldog to get into the 1,000 point club.
Stansbury also pointed out the most glaring stat for Johnson, which is the 14 free throws he shot. He used to settle for jump shots but has improved his ball handling and will be able to drive the lane more and force things to happen.
Addressing areas of needed improvement, I would like to see some zone out of the Dawgs early in the season. At this point, State has a hobbled center in Elgin Bailey, an inexperienced backup center in Wendell Lewis and a hobbled reserve center in John Riek. Bailey plays with extreme urgency and provides a great deal of leadership, but he is clearly not 100 percent.
Stansbury admitted State has to find ways to help Bailey defensively while he tries to recover. The best way to do that is mixing in some zone defense. I just do not see any other way for Bailey to be able to contribute significant minutes while his mobility is this limited.
Lewis is rebounding very well, as he grabbed seven boards, but he looks a little lost at times on defense. He looked less comfortable than he did in the intersquad and exhibition games with the understanding of team defense.
Riek did not even play an entire minute, but he does appear to be more mobile than last year. Against a smaller team like Tennessee State, Stansbury really cannot afford to play him unless you help him out with some zone. Otherwise, a smart team will pass around him, but in a zone, he provides value as a shotblocker and rebounder, which is where his natural gifts come into play.
Kodi Augustus played extremely inspired basketball. Augustus is oft-criticized by fans, but he certainly got off on the right foot this season. Yes, he still had some unnecessary charges, but he limited his 3-pointers.
Augustus has a very smooth shot, but at the end of the day, he’s a power forward, so five or six 3-point attempts a game is not going to produce efficiency. If he continues to attempt two or three pointers a game and produce in the rebounding column (14 on Friday), he will be the type of player who pushes MSU over the hump.
Riley Benock’s production has not seemed to increase with his increased minutes. He had some decent stats with four assists to just one turnover, while adding four points, but that is not so great considering he started and played 34 minutes, more than any other Bulldog.
Benock played decent defensively, but he did not even seem as sharp there as he has in the past. Tennessee State singled him out and called isolation plays on him a few times with success.
Stansbury says he is valuable because he “make the easier plays,” and he “gets the ball to the right guys at the right time,” and I agree.
At this point in the season, we do need that type of leadership and consistency because of all the newcomers, but he is going to have to step up his production if he wants to keep those minutes when Renardo Sidney and Dee Bost return and Brian Bryant gets some Division I experience under his belt.
The new Bulldog guards played extremely efficiently, and their play should be an encouragement for MSU faithful.
Jalen Steele scored eight points in just 13 minutes. Bryant added seven points, six assists, five rebounds and appeared to grab the point guard spot from Twany Beckham (zero points, zero assists, four rebounds). Shaun Smith hit a 3-pointer to tie the game up going into halftime. Those were his only points, but I would think his minutes will increase pretty soon. He plays solid defense and has the most fundamentally sound shot on the team. In short, he has way too much talent to be on the bench.
Overall, everyone involved would have liked for this game to have gone much smoother for the Bulldogs. However, it could have been worse. It could have been like the season-opening loss to Rider last year.
Stansbury believes the most important goal was reached.
“There was some improvement from last Saturday to this Saturday in some areas,” he said.
I tend to agree with his assessment. Overall, as the game flowed, I liked more and more of what I saw. It is scary to think State is playing without a McDonald’s All-American (Sidney) and an all-conference player (Bost). This team will do some damage when the roster is complete.
With time, the new faces will grow comfortable, Lewis will grow up and Bailey will regain health.
If MSU can improve in these areas each week and continue to get production out of veterans Johnson and Augustus, the Dawgs will survive and prosper until relief (Sidney and Bost) comes.