The state of Mississippi is trying to move on.
After a bad loss in Arkansas on Tuesday when the Bulldogs had a whopping 26 losses, MSU has a chance to recover on Saturday in South Carolina. The Bulldogs have now lost four consecutive games at the Southeast Conference.
“We have to keep fighting and fighting,” said state coach Ben Howland. “You have to fight when you’re down. You have to fight to get rid of it.”
At least on paper, MSU has a good chance of returning to the winning column against Gamecocks. South Carolina has lost four of its last six games and is below the 0.500 mark for the year. However, Gamecocks bring some momentum to Saturday as they are coming out of a 72-66 victory in Florida.
So, who will the MSU have to contain when tipping time comes if the Bulldogs want to claim a much-needed victory? South Carolina has three different players averaging 11 or more points per game. Gamecocks are led by guard AJ Lawson’s 17.6 points per dispute. Striker Keyshawn Bryant averages 14.6 per exit, while point guard Jermaine Couisnard scores 11.8.
See below for more information on Saturday’s game, including how you can follow along with comments from the Howland pre-South Carolina press conference. To watch Howland’s full media session, see the video above.
- What: Mississippi State (10-9, 4-6) in South Carolina (5-6, 3-4)
- Where: Colonial Life Arena – Columbia, South Carolina
- When: 2:30 pm central on Saturday, February 6, 2021
- TV / Video: SEC network, online via ESPN.com/ESPN App
- Radio / Audio: Mississippi State Sports Radio Network (click here to see the full list of affiliates), online at Hailstate.com and on the TuneIn radio app
Comments from Ben Howland’s media session 2-5-21:
Question: What has been your message to the team in practice?
Ben Howland: “We trained yesterday [Thursday] – Wednesday was off. We talked about the fact that we are where we are. We have to get out of this hole that we are in, in terms of a four-game losing streak, in our conference. Every game is so difficult because our championship is very good. There is no easy game. South Carolina comes from a big win in Florida – the best win of the year. We have to keep fighting and keep fighting. You have to fight when you’re down. You have to fight to get out of this. We talked about this before yesterday’s practice and during practice. Our guys had a good practice yesterday, so I was satisfied with that. “
Q: You talked about dealing with turnover as the main problem that you are taking home and trying to fix in the past few weeks. What is the key to success in fixing turnover in terms of the double teams you saw in Arkansas and the printers you saw earlier in the conference presentation?
BH: “Really, when you look at the upsets against Tennessee and Alabama, it had nothing to do with doubles. This had to do with poor decision making. This last game, they [Arkansas] ran [double teams] in iverson [Molinar], Deivon [Smith], or DJ [Stewart Jr.] to get you out of the hands of a specific player and say, ‘Hey, we’re not going to protect you.’ This guy has to be able to handle the ball better. ”
“This is something that we talked about. We watched the movie and watched the edits yesterday. I thought that when we came down there were offensive moments when we were really in a hurry. For example, in the second half against Arkansas, we only passed the ball four times or more twice. This is not enough patience, it is getting faster. You have to be able to handle the pressure and not be so fast that you can play faster than you can. “
Q: When the attack is fighting like it did the other night in Arkansas, is there a way for you to see more of Iverson Molinar and DJ Stewart Jr.?
BH: “Well, we want them to shoot more than they did in the last game [at Arkansas], especially Iverson. He only fired four shots. Part of it was him being in a pair the whole time. But, as a point guard, a lot of time you can drive there and distribute the ball to open players. We must continue to demand this from him. I thought he had a very good practice yesterday doing just that. ”
“It hurt us in the last game that Deivon [Smith] got in trouble. He missed with 17 minutes of play. This was critical, especially against a team that is trying to pressure and arrest him. He did the best job of everyone on our team in the guard position when dealing with the double team and scoring around it. Getting himself in trouble was a real problem for us. It was something that happened to both of them. We got into a situation where Iverson and Deivon had problems in the first half. “
Q: What have you seen from South Carolina so far?
BH: “There is a team completely different from the one that was in the past, from the point of view that it has always been oriented towards power, put the ball inside [Maik] Kotsar and put the ball in [Carlos] Silva to play inside out. Now they are playing with four guards around a big one. Sometimes, they will even play with five guards. [Keyshawn] Bryant get out of the bank. He is perhaps the most athletic guy in the SEC. I mean, he is an absolutely strange athlete who is having a great year. It is a team that is in two or three breaks. We played more games at the conference than they played throughout the year. ”
“They are a team that is obviously forming now. They had a good win at home against Georgia. They had a bad defeat against Vanderbilt on the road. They had their best win of the year in Florida on Wednesday night. So, we have them there at your house tomorrow. So, they are definitely coming out of a high point of the season to defeat a nationally classified team like Florida on the road. It was a great victory. We will have our hands full because they will have a lot of confidence when entering this game ”.
“[Justin] Minaya starts at four. He is really a man of three who plays four. It will be a confrontation for us where we will have Tolu [Smith] protecting perimeter players as a force striker, being put on switches and situations where we’ll have to deal with it. “
Q: What did you think of Derek Fountain’s first extended minutes at the SEC presentation in Arkansas, and how did he handle it?
BH: “Well, these are your only minutes in the SEC game. I was looking at the statistics. He will play more minutes for us. I’ve been talking about it for the past two weeks because it gives you a mix of a guy who can do a kick and also defend. “
“He’s very good offensively in terms of passing the ball and making plays for others. He has a lot of good skills. He is a boy who came here weighing 202 pounds. Now, he weighs 220 pounds. He turned 18 this summer, so he’s young. I am very pleased with your development. He loves the game. He spends a lot of time watching the movie and asking assistant coaches questions. He’s a great kid and has a very bright future. “
“He is a boy that I like because he is a boy who can play in many positions. He can play in the small advance or stretch, advanced position especially with him putting enough weight to fight bigger players down there. Moving on, I think he will end up weighing 225 pounds a year from now. I am very excited about it. I thought he did a good job for us when he arrived the other day. He was in the game when we reduced the game to five points in the second half after being left behind by 16 [points]. He did really good things, including hitting all three to reduce to five. “
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