Mississippi State basketball vs. Miami: 3 encouraging stats
By Ethan Lee
Sam Purcell’s Mississippi State basketball team lost Wednesday evening, but there were some bright spots for the Bulldogs against Miami.
Even though Sam Purcell and his Mississippi State basketball team fell short for the first time this season on Wednesday evening when the Bulldogs welcomed the Miami Hurricanes to Humphrey Coliseum, there were some pretty solid moments from Purcell’s squad.
The MSU women’s basketball program seems to be moving in the right direction and is currently 8-1 on the season. It would’ve been nice to see the Bulldogs get to 9-0 on the year, but Miami is a respectable team and the Bulldogs were shorthanded at home in the Hump against the Hurricanes.
Still, that doesn’t mean everything was bad. In fact, there were a few bright moments. Like these encouraging stats:
Mississippi State basketball: 3 encouraging stats in loss to Miami Hurricanes
80 percent free throw shooting – Honestly, it’s a little concerning that Mississippi State didn’t make a few more trips to the free throw line in this game, but when the Bulldogs got attempts, they made the shots far more often than not.
The Bulldogs went 8-10 at the free throw line and that’s a pretty respectably number, even if it isn’t the greatest ever.
The Bulldogs still have some room to improve here, so let’s hope that happens, but this is still respectable and that shouldn’t be overlooked. I watched and rooted for James Harden when he spent an extensive amount of time in his earlier career playing with the Houston Rockets. I’m all on board with making free throws.
I just wish they had more attempts at the free throw line.
40 percent 3 point shooting – Again, I watched a lot of James Harden and the Rockets when Daryl Morey orchestrated the team and changed the way basketball was played. So, I’m all about efficiency and scoring points and punishing opponents with brilliant strategy. So let’s shoot a lot of threes.
While there were some moments where the Bulldogs went cold from the three point line, this worked out well for Purcell and his Bulldogs for the most part. MSU managed to go 12 for 30 (40 percent) from three against Miami.
Again, not the best ever, but still pretty solid.
9 steals – I’m all on board with taking advantage of the opposing team’s mistakes and while things weren’t 100 percent amazing on that conceptual front, the shorthanded Bulldogs did snag several steals against Miami.
Mississippi State managed to post nine steals against Miami and the Bulldogs were engaged defensively all throughout the evening, even if there were some issues with depth as the game wore on.
If MSU can continue to set the tone and pressure foes, they might be able to win a lot more often than not this season.