Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics
What No. 18 Men’s Hoops Said at Thursday’s Media Session
December 13, 2018 | Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE – In what head coach Ben Howland described as the biggest game of the year to date, No. 18 Mississippi State will look to keep its SEC-best five-game winning streak alive when Cincinnati visits Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday.
The Bulldogs and the Bearcats will tipoff at 7:30 p.m. CT televised by the SEC Network and available online courtesy of the WatchESPN app. Richard Cross and Debbie Antonelli will serve as the announcing team.
Mississippi State is currently in the midst of a span where its five opponents to close non-conference action racked up 126 victories during the 2017-18 season. Cincinnati amassed a 31-5 mark en route to the American Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles. The Bearcats, who are receiving votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today/Coach Top 25 polls, have won nine straight highlighted by victories over Ole Miss (71-57), UNLV (65-61) and Xavier (62-47)
Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by searching 'HailStateMBK' on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Head coach Ben Howland and Aric Holman met with the media after Thursday's practice. Below is a transcript of the session.
Mississippi State Men's Basketball Media Session
December 13, 2018 – Humphrey Coliseum
Head Coach Ben Howland
Q: What about Cincinnati's interior defense sticks out to you?
BH: "Well, they play a switching man and a zone that is basically is like man-to-man in switching. They're really aggressive in pressuring the ball. They do a phenomenal job of contesting every shot you take. They pressure the ball. They were number one in the country last year in field goal percentage defense on the road. That's who [Cincinnati head coach] Mick [Cronin] has been now for years. He's done a phenomenal job with their program, Coach Cronin has. Every possession is a battle. I thought that [CBS Sports Network TV Analyst] Steve Lappas made a great comment watching one of their games that I was listening to in preparation for ours. He said, 'They play every possession like its life or death.' I can't think of a greater compliment to pay a team with how hard they play, with how physical they are, with how tough they are, how they hustle and how they work. I have nothing but unbelievable accolades for them as a team – the energy they bring and the passion for the game."
Q: How can you use last year's game to help approach this year's game?
BH: "They absolutely annihilated us last year. They were a really good team last year, and they're really good this year. A number of their guys are back. [Jarron] Cumberland is obviously their leading scorer and a really good player. You look at [Justin] Jenifer, and you look at Tre Scott who is playing really well for them inside. [Cane] Broome is an outstanding player. I love the big kid inside number 33 [Nysier Brooks] He's a beast and plays incredibly hard. They're extremely talented, and they have depth up front. Their depth is what is really impressive. They keep bringing in athletic, long bodies that play extremely hard and physical."
Q: Where do you think your defense stands right now after the Clemson game?
BH: "I think our defense is why we win. I thought we got a little gassed in that game up 20, and we only went into halftime up eight. I think it was 19 actually but credit them [Clemson]. They were getting some run outs on us, and we got a little tired playing real hard. We conditioned a lot over the past few days. It's been a pretty tough week for our guys. Our guys are still taking finals right now. We have three guys with finals today at three o'clock. Q [Weatherspoon] has two finals today that he has to finish by 11 o'clock. Lamar [Peters] still has one. So, they have been studying, cramming and taking tests. This is a tough week to be preparing for the biggest game of the year to date, but it is what it is."
Q: How many of your guys have the green light to shoot a three-pointer at any time?
BH: "When we take good open shots, I feel really comfortable with a vast majority of our guys shooting the ball from three. You don't see Abdul [Ado] take a three probably, you won't see E.J. [Datcher] take a three but just about everybody else that is playing for us can shoot and take a three when they are open. We did shoot it well, but the thing is that we're making the extra pass. When you look at our last game, we had 22 assists if I'm not mistaken on our 28 baskets. That is the key, making the extra pass to the guys who are open is big. The way they played us – they were packing it in [on defense] and making us take outside shots. So, that's what our guys did."
Q: We heard from Lamar during the pre-season. We were expecting a more mature version of him both on and off court, but in particular with how he made decisions with shot selection and running the offense. Do you think this is the manifestation of Lamar growing up as a player?
BH: "I thought he played like that the last third of the year big time for us a year ago. I think all of this work, all of this expectation, all of this anticipation and all of this anxiety – I thought he came out and was really pressing [to start this season]. He's finally letting it just come to him. The game is moving slower, and he's not missing. This morning before practice, he came in, and we shoot segments of 50 from seven different spots without anyone guarding him. He was 137-for-150 from the three. That's shooting it with no one guarding him. I mean, 137 for 150? That's hard to do … You're shooting 91 percent from the three. That's good shooting. When he takes open shots, it's a high percentage shot. It's that work. That's why he was a little anxious to start the season because he put in all of this work. That's how well he can shoot it. He's shooting 91 percent from three today. He's been shooting like that in practice. He's open, and it's going in. Q [Quinndary Weatherspoon] shot it great today. They're putting extra time in. We'll have guys – we just practice really hard for two hours. We will have half a dozen guys here tonight shooting on their own which is great. They really care. I said this after the game, 'We have never had a group of guys work so hard collectively on their shot'. I love it."
Forward Aric Holman
Q: With Lamar Peters playing as well as he has, have you enjoyed watching his growing up process behind the scenes and on the court?
AH: "Absolutely, it's a process. Everybody's process is different. He's growing up, and he's becoming a man in his own shoes. He's understanding things, and he's working harder than ever. Me and the team are so proud of him right now for the strides he has taken over the past two or three years."
Q: You played against Cincinnati last year, what do you remember from that game?
AH: "Everything our coach said. It's going to be physical. It's basically playing an upper echelon SEC team. A team that really wants to win, and they pride themselves off of their defense. They came out from the jump [last year], and they showed it."
Q: Speaking of taking pride in defense, Coach Howland just said that defense is the reason why you guys are winning a lot of the games you are winning. How comfortable do you feel in the way the team is playing defensively right now?
AH: "I would say that we're playing pretty good. We're playing good enough to win, but we still have strides where I think we can get way better to show what we can really do. We're taking big steps every game. Somebody is stepping up. With our team right now and with the young guys, they're learning fast. Us as leaders are trying to set the tone and flow with the pace."
The Bulldogs and the Bearcats will tipoff at 7:30 p.m. CT televised by the SEC Network and available online courtesy of the WatchESPN app. Richard Cross and Debbie Antonelli will serve as the announcing team.
Mississippi State is currently in the midst of a span where its five opponents to close non-conference action racked up 126 victories during the 2017-18 season. Cincinnati amassed a 31-5 mark en route to the American Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles. The Bearcats, who are receiving votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today/Coach Top 25 polls, have won nine straight highlighted by victories over Ole Miss (71-57), UNLV (65-61) and Xavier (62-47)
Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by searching 'HailStateMBK' on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Head coach Ben Howland and Aric Holman met with the media after Thursday's practice. Below is a transcript of the session.
Mississippi State Men's Basketball Media Session
December 13, 2018 – Humphrey Coliseum
Head Coach Ben Howland
Q: What about Cincinnati's interior defense sticks out to you?
BH: "Well, they play a switching man and a zone that is basically is like man-to-man in switching. They're really aggressive in pressuring the ball. They do a phenomenal job of contesting every shot you take. They pressure the ball. They were number one in the country last year in field goal percentage defense on the road. That's who [Cincinnati head coach] Mick [Cronin] has been now for years. He's done a phenomenal job with their program, Coach Cronin has. Every possession is a battle. I thought that [CBS Sports Network TV Analyst] Steve Lappas made a great comment watching one of their games that I was listening to in preparation for ours. He said, 'They play every possession like its life or death.' I can't think of a greater compliment to pay a team with how hard they play, with how physical they are, with how tough they are, how they hustle and how they work. I have nothing but unbelievable accolades for them as a team – the energy they bring and the passion for the game."
Q: How can you use last year's game to help approach this year's game?
BH: "They absolutely annihilated us last year. They were a really good team last year, and they're really good this year. A number of their guys are back. [Jarron] Cumberland is obviously their leading scorer and a really good player. You look at [Justin] Jenifer, and you look at Tre Scott who is playing really well for them inside. [Cane] Broome is an outstanding player. I love the big kid inside number 33 [Nysier Brooks] He's a beast and plays incredibly hard. They're extremely talented, and they have depth up front. Their depth is what is really impressive. They keep bringing in athletic, long bodies that play extremely hard and physical."
Q: Where do you think your defense stands right now after the Clemson game?
BH: "I think our defense is why we win. I thought we got a little gassed in that game up 20, and we only went into halftime up eight. I think it was 19 actually but credit them [Clemson]. They were getting some run outs on us, and we got a little tired playing real hard. We conditioned a lot over the past few days. It's been a pretty tough week for our guys. Our guys are still taking finals right now. We have three guys with finals today at three o'clock. Q [Weatherspoon] has two finals today that he has to finish by 11 o'clock. Lamar [Peters] still has one. So, they have been studying, cramming and taking tests. This is a tough week to be preparing for the biggest game of the year to date, but it is what it is."
Q: How many of your guys have the green light to shoot a three-pointer at any time?
BH: "When we take good open shots, I feel really comfortable with a vast majority of our guys shooting the ball from three. You don't see Abdul [Ado] take a three probably, you won't see E.J. [Datcher] take a three but just about everybody else that is playing for us can shoot and take a three when they are open. We did shoot it well, but the thing is that we're making the extra pass. When you look at our last game, we had 22 assists if I'm not mistaken on our 28 baskets. That is the key, making the extra pass to the guys who are open is big. The way they played us – they were packing it in [on defense] and making us take outside shots. So, that's what our guys did."
Q: We heard from Lamar during the pre-season. We were expecting a more mature version of him both on and off court, but in particular with how he made decisions with shot selection and running the offense. Do you think this is the manifestation of Lamar growing up as a player?
BH: "I thought he played like that the last third of the year big time for us a year ago. I think all of this work, all of this expectation, all of this anticipation and all of this anxiety – I thought he came out and was really pressing [to start this season]. He's finally letting it just come to him. The game is moving slower, and he's not missing. This morning before practice, he came in, and we shoot segments of 50 from seven different spots without anyone guarding him. He was 137-for-150 from the three. That's shooting it with no one guarding him. I mean, 137 for 150? That's hard to do … You're shooting 91 percent from the three. That's good shooting. When he takes open shots, it's a high percentage shot. It's that work. That's why he was a little anxious to start the season because he put in all of this work. That's how well he can shoot it. He's shooting 91 percent from three today. He's been shooting like that in practice. He's open, and it's going in. Q [Quinndary Weatherspoon] shot it great today. They're putting extra time in. We'll have guys – we just practice really hard for two hours. We will have half a dozen guys here tonight shooting on their own which is great. They really care. I said this after the game, 'We have never had a group of guys work so hard collectively on their shot'. I love it."
Forward Aric Holman
Q: With Lamar Peters playing as well as he has, have you enjoyed watching his growing up process behind the scenes and on the court?
AH: "Absolutely, it's a process. Everybody's process is different. He's growing up, and he's becoming a man in his own shoes. He's understanding things, and he's working harder than ever. Me and the team are so proud of him right now for the strides he has taken over the past two or three years."
Q: You played against Cincinnati last year, what do you remember from that game?
AH: "Everything our coach said. It's going to be physical. It's basically playing an upper echelon SEC team. A team that really wants to win, and they pride themselves off of their defense. They came out from the jump [last year], and they showed it."
Q: Speaking of taking pride in defense, Coach Howland just said that defense is the reason why you guys are winning a lot of the games you are winning. How comfortable do you feel in the way the team is playing defensively right now?
AH: "I would say that we're playing pretty good. We're playing good enough to win, but we still have strides where I think we can get way better to show what we can really do. We're taking big steps every game. Somebody is stepping up. With our team right now and with the young guys, they're learning fast. Us as leaders are trying to set the tone and flow with the pace."
Players Mentioned
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