The NIT is a Great Opportunity for Mississippi State to Continue to Improve
By Ethan Lee
Mississippi State Men’s Basketball Can Continue to Grow
For the first time in what feels like an eternity, the Mississippi State men’s basketball team is back to playing basketball in the postseason. No, unfortunately, the Bulldogs didn’t make the NCAA Tournament. No, this rebuild didn’t follow the typical path of a Ben Howland year three rebuild.
But that’s okay.
Why, you might be asking? Well, the Bulldogs are guaranteed another chance to play. Mississippi State is being given another chance to improve. This MSU team, with two freshmen who have started in every game that they have played this year, can gain more experience.
Mississippi State will get another chance to play when they tip off tomorrow against Nebraska. A familiar foe for Howland’s team. When the Cornhuskers last came down south, the Bulldogs hosted them for an exhibition game and fell to their guests 76 to 72.
Since that game, however, Mississippi State has improved throughout the year. At home, the men’s basketball team won 18 of 20 games in the Humphrey Coliseum. Those two losses came to Auburn and Tennessee, two of the best teams in the Southeastern Conference this year. For what that’s worth, that’s really, really good.
And now Mississippi State has another chance to play.
The Bulldogs’ young roster will benefit from that chance.
It’s currently unclear if Nick Weatherspoon will play and it’ll certainly hurt to lose MSU’s second leading scorer. But without Nick, guys like sophomores Lamar Peters, Tyson Carter, and Eli Wright will likely receive more playing time at that position and more shots in Nick’s absence.
It’ll also put more of an emphasis on MSU’s oldest starters and leaders of this team, Quinndary Weatherspoon and Aric Holman. The elder Weatherspoon brother and Holman have been along for the entirety of this rebuilding process and have seen MSU come a long way. Their hard work has helped bring the Bulldogs to this point, but the Bulldogs will need strong showings in the NIT from both Q and Holman if the team is to continue moving on this year.
With the fact that the Bulldogs are not playing anyone older than a junior for major minutes and only have one senior on the roster in walk-on Drew Davis, more playing team will mean a lot for this team. More practices, more opponents, and more chances to develop and sharpen skills.
Yes, it’s disappointing that Mississippi State missed the NCAA Tournament. It would’ve been great for the Bulldogs to sneak into the Big Dance in year three of the Ben Howland rebuild process. But that’s just not what happened and the rebuild isn’t done just yet.
Now, I guess their only option is to continue to play and perform with the opportunity they have. And that’s the NIT, a great opportunity for Mississippi State men’s basketball to continue to improve.