The Mississippi State basketball teams held their exhibition games last week in the Humphrey Coliseum as the men’s team won 78-63 and the women’s team won 88-62.
The men’s win was a dominating victory over Delta State with three players scoring in double digits and one player with a double-double.
MSU has one of the youngest teams in the nation, let alone in the SEC. This was a time for many fans to come out and see how the Bulldogs are looking this season.
With players like Quinndary Weatherspoon bringing a lot of hype to the team, the team did not disappoint their fans on exhibition night.
Both Aric Holman and Mario Kegler had a tremendous game, scoring 33 points between the two of them.
Kegler led the team with 18 points and finished the game with eight rebounds.
Kegler stated after the game that he was just excited and having fun on the court.
Ben Howland was very pleased with Kegler and was excited for how he will perform in the regular season.
“Mario is a ‘match-up nightmare,” Howland said. “The reason for that is because he is a small forward playing the power forward position.”
Kegler helped the Bulldogs stretch out their court hitting 4-9 three pointers in the game.
Aric Holman, after being sidelined due to injuries last season, came back strong with a double-double in points and rebounds. He finished the night with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and looked incredible with his four blocks.
After the game he talked about his health and coming back this season.
“I felt like I had my legs back under me,” Holman said.
I.J. Ready played minimum minutes while still having symptoms of mono.
The Bulldogs have their first regular season game next week in Starkville vs Norfolk State on SEC Network at 7 p.m.
This will be a highly anticipated season for the Bulldogs as this is Ben Howland’s second year as head coach and has already had success in recruiting this past season.
For the women’s game, Mississippi State stayed in control of the game on both sides, as freshmen got their first Bulldog experience.
Senior Chinwe Okorie steered the ship, showing her veteran status. Okorie was responsible for the Bulldog’s first points as fellow veteran Victoria Vivians had trouble shifting into game mode. Okorie totaled for 17 points, the most points scored during the game.
Defensive star Teaira McCowan finished with 15 rebounds. The Bulldogs seemed to frequently lose their rhythm on offensive strides.
Redshirt junior Roshunda Johnson and redshirt freshman Zion Campbell both completed their first games as Bulldogs. Johnson hit the ground running, opening up with two 3-pointers. Campbell was shaky in her start as she had big defensive shoes to fill. She finished with two points from her lone layup and three offensive rebounds.
Throughout the game, Arkansas-Fort Smith would momentarily shift the momentum in the game. Lady Lion Sydney Franklin stepped up on offense, leading the team with 16 points and five offensive rebounds. She continuously showed her grit before sustaining a chin injury on defense.
“We came in with the idea that we had nothing to lose,” Franklin said. “We came out knowing we would give it our all.”
It was to no surprise that the Lions were a quality team, as they were led by former Mississippi State assistant coach Elena Lovato. This is her first season as a women’s basketball head coach.
Coach Ben Howland was impressed with how Lovato has handled her team already.
“I think they played extremely well and they were not intimidated,” coach Schaefer said. “I thought they came in here and bothered us on defensive stand points. I’m happy for them and I think they’ll have a good year.”
Schaefer was not pleased with the Bulldogs performance in the exhibition game.
“Just looking at the tape and the stats, there’s way too many 0-3, 2-10, 1-5’s in our shooting,” Schaefer said. “We didn’t shoot well.”
Overall, they finished 46 percent shooting, scoring only 53 of their 113 attempts.
Usual go-to guard Vivians arrived flat in the game but warmed up in the second half, finishing with 10 points. Fellow shooting guard and junior Morgan William finished the game with 15 points, just two shy of Okorie.
“I think we could’ve had a lot more of Morgan and in the second half we got her moving a bit more,” Coach Schaefer said.
William shared the disappointment Schaefer had about the game.
“Like Coach said, we have to be ready,” William said. “It’s a privilege to come out and play a game, so when we step on the court, we have to be ready to play. We have to attack.”
The women’s basketball team will begin their season on Friday, Nov. 11 in the Maine Tipoff Tournament against Villanova. They return home on Nov. 20 to face the Texas Longhorns.
