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MSU Men's Basketball Wins Season Opener
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State used a dominating inside game to win its men’s basketball season opener Friday night.
Gavin
Ware posted his third career double-double (15 points and 15 rebounds)
and Roquez Johnson added 11 points as the Bulldogs used a strong second
half surge to get past Prairie View A&M 71-56 in the Humphrey
Coliseum.
MSU
won its season opener for the first time under second-year head coach
Rick Ray and also won its opener for the 23rd time in the past 29
seasons.
In his MSU debut, freshman guard IJ Ready added 14 points, two assists and three steals in 30 minutes of work.
“I
had been waiting for this night since August,” Ready said. “It was
exciting to get out there and to put to use what we had been doing in
practice since August. It was really great to go out there, play a game
and get a win like that. It is a good start.”
MSU
shot 42.2 percent from the floor but was plagued by 21 turnovers.
Despite the tighter restrictions on foul calling, the Bulldogs did well
there, only being called for 19 personals.
Leading
62-55, the Bulldogs followed a timeout with three straight defensive
turnovers and three baskets on the other end for a game-clinching 7-0
run.
“Basically,
we were told to not worry about the score,” Ware said. “We just had to
go out there and get some stops to win the game. That is what we did.
Our defensive pressure bothered them. We just have to be more
consistent with that. But we did the things that we needed to do late
in the game there to get the win.”
MSU scored the game’s first
five points and held a sizeable lead throughout the contest. A layup by
Johnson capped an 11-2 run and extended the lead to 18-9. Prairie View
closed within five at 22-17 only to see more full-court pressure lead
to a 7-1 run and a 29-18 lead for the Bulldogs.
That last spurt helped push MSU to a 38-28 lead at the intermission.
“We
did some things really well for the first game,” Ray said. “You saw
some of the things that our new players are going to be able to do. IJ
really provided a steady, calming influence from the point guard
position. Down low, we missed some easy shot opportunities but we kept
getting them.”
MSU
extended the lead to 45-29 on an old-fashioned 3-point play by Ware.
Still, the Panthers had a couple of strong offensive possessions where
they beat the Bulldogs back down the court to stay in the contest.
A
3-point basket by Montrael Scott whittled the lead to 62-55 before the
game-decisive run. That run included a layup by Trivante Bloodman, a
3-pointer by Ready and a layup by Colin Borchert.
For
the contest, the Bulldogs hit 27 of 64 shots from the field (42.2
percent), 4 of 12 shots from 3-point range (33.3 percent) and 13 of 21
shots from the foul line (61.9 percent). The Cougars hit 19 of 50 shots
from the field (38.0 percent), 3 of 22 shots from 3-point range (13.6
percent) and 15 of 21 shots from the foul line (71.4 percent).
MSU
held a 51-27 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 13 assists and 21
turnovers, while the Panthers had six assists and 19 turnovers.
“I
thought you saw a lot of poise down the stretch,” Ray said. “You saw a
young team making basketball plays and learning how to put a team away.
That is a good thing to see.”
Prairie View received 15 points from Montreal Scott, 13 points from Louis Munks and 11 points from Tre Hagood.
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