Mississippi State Preview
December 02, 2011 03:27 PM | General
WEST VIRGINIA GAME NOTES | MISSISSIPPI STATE GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Bob Huggins is impressed with what he’s seen from Mississippi State so far this year.
West Virginia will take on the 21st-ranked Bulldogs Saturday night at 9 p.m. in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPNU as part of the Big East/SEC Challenge.
“I think they’re really good,” said West Virginia’s fifth year coach. “They had a great tournament in New York. They beat Texas A&M and Arizona, two ranked teams, nobody has scored 70 yet against them; they’re big – 6-11 and 6-10 inside and they bring another 6-9 off the bench. They’re really, really athletic and (guard) Dee Bost is one of the better guards in the SEC. They’re a very talented team.”
Bost, a 6-2 senior guard, leads Mississippi State (7-1) in scoring with an average of 17 points per game. He went for 23 in the season opener against Eastern Kentucky, had 20 in the Texas A&M win in Madison Square Garden and scored a team-high 21 against Louisiana-Monroe.
Junior forward Arnett Moultrie is averaging 16 points and 10.8 rebounds per game and led the Bulldogs with 20 in their most recent victory against North Texas. Moultrie is the top rebounder in the SEC.
Rodney Hood, a 6-8 freshman guard, is averaging 13 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while Renardo Sidney, a 6-foot-10, 285-pounder, is averaging 8.2 points and 3.6 boards per game.
Huggins says he likes Mississippi State’s size and athleticism.
“They’ve got great athletes,” he said. “Dee Bost is really a good athlete. (Jalen) Steele is really a good athlete. Hood is really long and then when you have Sidney and Moultrie inside they change shots; they block shots, they do a good job of rebounding the ball and try and limit you to one shot. They really do a good job of running through passing lanes.”
Huggins believes it will be important for his young team to pass the basketball and make Mississippi State defend both sides of the floor.
“We’ve got to move the defense. You can’t go down there and throw it on one side of the floor and attack Mississippi State from one side of the floor,” he said. “They’re going to have help and they’re going to have all of that size and athleticism in a confined area. We’ve got to be able to move them.”
Huggins’ young team is improving, especially on defense. After giving 71 points to Oral Roberts in the opener and 70 in a 10-point loss to Kent State four days later, West Virginia (4-1) has allowed 62, 48 and 56 points in its last three games – all wins.
And because the defense is improving, the Mountaineers are starting to get more points in transition off of steals - something Huggins hopes can continue.
“We want to get transition. We’re going to try and get as many easy baskets as we can get it, be that from a missed shot or a turnover,” Huggins said. “We’ve worked hard and trying to up the tempo a little bit.”
A lot of that has been keyed by freshmen guards Jabarie Hinds and Gary Browne, who have combined for 25 steals and 94 points in West Virginia’s first five games.
Senior Kevin Jones has been West Virginia’s best player, averaging a team-best 21 points and 12.2 rebounds per game. Jones went for 18 points and 12 rebounds in West Virginia’s win Monday night against Akron, which knocked off Mississippi State 68-58 in Starkville back on Nov. 9.
Senior guard Truck Bryant (14.4 ppg.) and junior forward Deniz Kilicli (10.6 ppg.) have been solid complimentary scorers for Jones.
The one area where the Mountaineers have left points on the floor is at the free throw line. West Virginia is shooting just 59.4 percent with only one player (Bryant) making better than 70 percent of his free throw attempts.
“We’ve got to make free throws. We’re not going to get to the line 28 times down there, I doubt, but if we get to the line 18 times we can’t make just nine of them,” said Huggins.
The coach believes his players are much better free throw shooters than they are showing, but the misses are starting to become an issue.
“We’re shooting 59 percent,” Huggins said. “I think it happened the Kent game - you go up there and it’s a nip and tuck game and you come down and miss a front end of a one-and-one and then you come down and clang two free throws and they go down and score … we missed free throws and we missed easy shots. I think it demoralizes you as much as it does anything. Everybody drops their head.”
This is West Virginia’s first true road game of the season after playing Morehead State in Charleston. Huggins said he won’t make that big of a deal out of it with his young players.
“I really don’t talk to them much about it. Maybe after the first timeout I have a lot to say,” Huggins said. “I’ve always felt like the rims are still 10 feet, the foul line is still 15 feet and those people in the stands haven’t blocked a shot or scored a goal yet that I know of. You just go out there and play.”
The West Virginia-Mississippi State game is one of 12 between the two conferences in a made-for-TV event first created in 2007 by ESPN. The Mountaineers played in the inaugural challenge in 2007, beating Auburn in Birmingham, Ala.
“TV dictates a lot of it – matchups and those kinds of things and then I guess the Big East and the SEC OKs it, I assume,” said Huggins of how the WVU-Mississippi State game came about. “I have no idea.”
Through four games, the conferences are knotted at two wins each. Georgetown defeated Alabama and Providence downed South Carolina, while Kentucky knocked off St. John’s and Mississippi defeated DePaul on Thursday night.
Friday night’s games include Florida at Syracuse, Cincinnati at Georgia, Vanderbilt at Louisville and Auburn at Seton Hall.
In addition to the West Virginia-Mississippi State game, other Saturday games include Arkansas at Connecticut, Pitt at Tennessee and LSU at Rutgers.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Bob Huggins is impressed with what he’s seen from Mississippi State so far this year.
West Virginia will take on the 21st-ranked Bulldogs Saturday night at 9 p.m. in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPNU as part of the Big East/SEC Challenge.
“I think they’re really good,” said West Virginia’s fifth year coach. “They had a great tournament in New York. They beat Texas A&M and Arizona, two ranked teams, nobody has scored 70 yet against them; they’re big – 6-11 and 6-10 inside and they bring another 6-9 off the bench. They’re really, really athletic and (guard) Dee Bost is one of the better guards in the SEC. They’re a very talented team.”
Bost, a 6-2 senior guard, leads Mississippi State (7-1) in scoring with an average of 17 points per game. He went for 23 in the season opener against Eastern Kentucky, had 20 in the Texas A&M win in Madison Square Garden and scored a team-high 21 against Louisiana-Monroe.
Junior forward Arnett Moultrie is averaging 16 points and 10.8 rebounds per game and led the Bulldogs with 20 in their most recent victory against North Texas. Moultrie is the top rebounder in the SEC.
Rodney Hood, a 6-8 freshman guard, is averaging 13 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while Renardo Sidney, a 6-foot-10, 285-pounder, is averaging 8.2 points and 3.6 boards per game.
Huggins says he likes Mississippi State’s size and athleticism.
“They’ve got great athletes,” he said. “Dee Bost is really a good athlete. (Jalen) Steele is really a good athlete. Hood is really long and then when you have Sidney and Moultrie inside they change shots; they block shots, they do a good job of rebounding the ball and try and limit you to one shot. They really do a good job of running through passing lanes.”
Huggins believes it will be important for his young team to pass the basketball and make Mississippi State defend both sides of the floor.
“We’ve got to move the defense. You can’t go down there and throw it on one side of the floor and attack Mississippi State from one side of the floor,” he said. “They’re going to have help and they’re going to have all of that size and athleticism in a confined area. We’ve got to be able to move them.”
Huggins’ young team is improving, especially on defense. After giving 71 points to Oral Roberts in the opener and 70 in a 10-point loss to Kent State four days later, West Virginia (4-1) has allowed 62, 48 and 56 points in its last three games – all wins.
And because the defense is improving, the Mountaineers are starting to get more points in transition off of steals - something Huggins hopes can continue.
“We want to get transition. We’re going to try and get as many easy baskets as we can get it, be that from a missed shot or a turnover,” Huggins said. “We’ve worked hard and trying to up the tempo a little bit.”
A lot of that has been keyed by freshmen guards Jabarie Hinds and Gary Browne, who have combined for 25 steals and 94 points in West Virginia’s first five games.
Senior Kevin Jones has been West Virginia’s best player, averaging a team-best 21 points and 12.2 rebounds per game. Jones went for 18 points and 12 rebounds in West Virginia’s win Monday night against Akron, which knocked off Mississippi State 68-58 in Starkville back on Nov. 9.
Senior guard Truck Bryant (14.4 ppg.) and junior forward Deniz Kilicli (10.6 ppg.) have been solid complimentary scorers for Jones.
The one area where the Mountaineers have left points on the floor is at the free throw line. West Virginia is shooting just 59.4 percent with only one player (Bryant) making better than 70 percent of his free throw attempts.
“We’ve got to make free throws. We’re not going to get to the line 28 times down there, I doubt, but if we get to the line 18 times we can’t make just nine of them,” said Huggins.
The coach believes his players are much better free throw shooters than they are showing, but the misses are starting to become an issue.
“We’re shooting 59 percent,” Huggins said. “I think it happened the Kent game - you go up there and it’s a nip and tuck game and you come down and miss a front end of a one-and-one and then you come down and clang two free throws and they go down and score … we missed free throws and we missed easy shots. I think it demoralizes you as much as it does anything. Everybody drops their head.”
This is West Virginia’s first true road game of the season after playing Morehead State in Charleston. Huggins said he won’t make that big of a deal out of it with his young players.
“I really don’t talk to them much about it. Maybe after the first timeout I have a lot to say,” Huggins said. “I’ve always felt like the rims are still 10 feet, the foul line is still 15 feet and those people in the stands haven’t blocked a shot or scored a goal yet that I know of. You just go out there and play.”
The West Virginia-Mississippi State game is one of 12 between the two conferences in a made-for-TV event first created in 2007 by ESPN. The Mountaineers played in the inaugural challenge in 2007, beating Auburn in Birmingham, Ala.
“TV dictates a lot of it – matchups and those kinds of things and then I guess the Big East and the SEC OKs it, I assume,” said Huggins of how the WVU-Mississippi State game came about. “I have no idea.”
Through four games, the conferences are knotted at two wins each. Georgetown defeated Alabama and Providence downed South Carolina, while Kentucky knocked off St. John’s and Mississippi defeated DePaul on Thursday night.
Friday night’s games include Florida at Syracuse, Cincinnati at Georgia, Vanderbilt at Louisville and Auburn at Seton Hall.
In addition to the West Virginia-Mississippi State game, other Saturday games include Arkansas at Connecticut, Pitt at Tennessee and LSU at Rutgers.
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