Three Takeaways from Mississippi State's Win against Ole Miss
STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State Bulldogs came into this game riding a three-game win streak searching for their fourth straight win and trying to avoid a series sweep against Ole Miss.
State has won four games in a row and is looking to extend it to five against LSU on Saturday. After another impressive victory, what are some takeaways from the win?
Second Half Defense
The Bulldogs struggled in the first half with offense and that allowed the Rebels to stay active and score off of missed opportunities. This was not the way the Bulldogs started the game as they played a clean game and then they started to commit silly turnovers that benefited the Rebels.
At the end of the half, Ole Miss led 44-40 and Matthew Murrell had 16 and then the Bulldogs came out with a mission and gameplan to play a level of defense that had not been consistently seen all season.
That is what they did as they held the Rebels to 27 points and they played with a more physical approach to the game. MSU tried to limit the Rebel's damage from the free throw line as they shot 10-12 but held Ole Miss to 29.6 percent shooting from the field and only allowed one 3-pointer all second half.
Bench Production/Lineup Flexibility
Head Coach Chris Jans finally had a semblance of his dream rotation for his roster. As most know, he likes to play 9-10 guys throughout the game to keep fresh legs and also to give different looks on the floor to keep the opposing team thinking. With everyone being available to play, the Bulldogs flexed their defensive abilities with some lineups and offensive ones as well.
Notability, Tolu Smith III came off the bench to the surprise of many people in the arena. Jans said that it was a decision that was made between him and Smith and had no further comments on it. He scored a game-high 24 points and had 24 of the 49 bench points that outscored the 11 from Ole Miss.
Outside of the 24 from Smith, Keshawn Murphy had an impactful 12 and hit a dagger 3-pointer that closed the door on the Rebels. D.J. Jefferies played a great number of minutes and scored nine after trying to give it a go against Arkansas on Saturday. Deshawn Davis also scored four timely points in the second half as well.
The Hump Felt Like The Hump Of Old
It was a sold-out crowd in the Hump and many would say that it felt like The Hump would bump back during the 90s. The atmosphere was electric as each call and response from the band would get louder as the game continued. Now this could be because it was a rivalry game, but the positive energy from the crowd helped the Bulldogs stay in the game and feed off of each other.
That same energy will be needed in their next home game as they have No. 17 Kentucky coming to Starkville (Feb. 27) they will have plenty of eyes on them as seeding for the SEC Tournament and March is starting to come into play with each passing game.
