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Mississippi State Basketball: Big weekend ahead for Bulldogs

By Tony Richardson

Feb 18, 2022; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs guard Shakeel Moore (3) controls the ball while defended by Missouri Tigers forward Ronnie DeGray III (21) during the first half at Humphrey Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 18, 2022; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs guard Shakeel Moore (3) controls the ball while defended by Missouri Tigers forward Ronnie DeGray III (21) during the first half at Humphrey Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Mississippi State basketball team was impressive in their 1-0 start, but this weekend will be a major test for the Chris Jans-led squad.

Tolu Smith and the Mississippi State basketball team showed their defensive aggressiveness against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. After a slow start, Cameron Matthews and Dashawn “Rams” Davis took over the court defensively and led the Dawgs to an almost 20-point victory in the second half.  They will need to repeat that performance this weekend in the Barstool Sports Invitational at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA.

Mississippi State Basketball – Game 1 Analysis

After watching the Bulldogs Monday night, I personally have a few takeaways. The first half looked sloppy and uncoordinated offensively. The Islanders seemed to take advantage of their shooting opportunities by making a few three-point shots and held the lead by 5 at the break. It was a completely different story in the second half. The Bulldogs absolutely suffocated the Islanders, playing an intense full-court press on major possessions to keep the momentum. The zone defense that Chris Jans brought to Starkville looked impressive as well, holding Corpus Christi to only 14 (yes, you read that right) 14 points in the second half. The bulldog offense still seemed to want to run through Tolu Smith, who was named to the Pre-Season All-SEC First Team. Dashawn Davis as a point guard seems like the path to follow, as he played a leading 29 minutes with 6 points and 2 assists. Eric Reed Jr. and D.J. Jeffries also contributed with 5 and 7 points respectively.

Friday, November 11th vs. Akron

Akron is another team coming off an NCAA tournament appearance, with their coach John Groce having led the Zips to four straight winning seasons. Coming off a respective 24-10 record in 2021-2022 and recording a win against South Dakota State on Monday, the Zips are looking to continue their winning trend against a Power 5 SEC opponent.

For the Bulldogs to stay on the winning path, the defense needs to keep the same intensity they did all night on Monday. Offensively, I think simply letting Tolu be Tolu down low is the key. He is almost unstoppable when he gets a look at the rim, and also can facilitate the tempo with offensive rebounding and kicking the rock back outside the perimeter. Hitting longer-range shots will be a major work in progress, and something I will be interested to see in these next few games. The Bulldogs shot from behind the 3-point line with only 24% efficiency, going 6-25. I would love to see that number increase to the 30-35 percentile, especially with the open looks some of our guards get because of the attention Tolu demands in the paint.

Let’s hope for an exciting weekend for Bulldog Basketball!

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