Stewart Jr.: "We have to focus on tomorrow and keep going."
December 17, 2019 | Men's Basketball
by Matt Dunaway, Associate Director/Communications
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State men's basketball faces the fourth of five non-conference opponents who are defending regular season conference champions from a season ago as Big South co-champion Radford visits Humphrey Coliseum on Wednesday.
The Bulldogs (7-2) have won two of their first three meetings versus those defending conference champions which include 67-58 and 67-61 comeback victories over Sam Houston State and Kansas State on 11/08 and 12/14, respectively.
Head coach Ben Howland along with D.J. Stewart Jr. met with the media leading into Tuesday's practice.
Wednesday's tip time is set for 7 p.m. CT. The game will be carried online only courtesy of SEC Network+ and the Watch ESPN platform.
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.
PROMOTIONS/TICKETS/SEC MINI PLANS
The Bulldogs next two home games against Radford (Dec. 18) and Kent State (Dec. 30) are "$1 General Admission Nights" with advanced purchase at www.HailState.com/tickets or in person at the Mississippi State Athletics Ticket Office located on the first floor of the Bryan Building. Discounted pricing will not be available on gamedays at the Humphrey Coliseum Box Office.
The first 500 fans to Wednesday's game will receive at "Home Alone" themed Bully Christmas Ornament.
It also marks "Christmas at the Hump" where children can take photos with Santa in the Kids Court pregame located in Mize Pavilion. Santa will read "Twas the Night before Christmas" to the children at halftime on the court.
The Bulldogs will play their annual Jackson game versus New Mexico State on Sunday, Dec. 22 at Mississippi Coliseum. Tickets for that matchup are available for $10, $15 and $25 plus fees via TicketMaster. Fans will have the opportunity to take a photo with "The Golden Egg" prior to the game.
Mississippi State is offering a $60 SEC four-game mini plan at www.HailState.com/tickets which features a trio of Saturday matchups against Georgia (Jan. 18), Tennessee (Feb. 1) and Ole Miss (March 7) in addition to the Alabama (Feb. 25) game.
For more gameday information, visit https://hailst.at/MBKGameday
Mississippi State Men's Basketball Media Session
December 17, 2019
Head Coach Ben Howland
Q: How dangerous will your offense become if Abdul [Ado] starts contributing more?
BH: "It's obviously great to see him gaining confidence, and our team finding him and feeding him. There's a lot of good passes. He got a couple of really big offensive rebounds against Kansas State. One was late in the game, and that was huge. It was a four-point game, and it extended our lead to six with a minute and a half to go. He had the follow one for the dunk earlier in the half. It's definitely a positive for us."
Q: How emotional do you think it's going to be for Nick Weatherspoon to return on Sunday in Jackson?
BH: "I think it's been a long, hard road for him to sit out 20 games. That's difficult. It really hurt us last year down the stretch, especially in the [NCAA] tournament, not having him against Liberty with the way they were playing small ball. It's been tough thus far this year. He'll be excited. I think it's going to be great to have him back out there, and I know he's looking forward to it."
Q: How much confidence did the comeback win over Kansas State give your team?
BH: "It was a really important win. We watched the second half today. We watched the first half yesterday. There are a lot of good things to learn from and things we have to get better at. What I'm most pleased about is we were down seven points with eight and a half minutes to go. We really hung in there."
"Even with four minutes to go, we were down three [points]. We won by playing good defense and getting some stops that created some offense. The go-ahead basket by D.J. [Stewart Jr.] was off of a turnover by our opponent. I think that was our best defensive game of the year. We held them to 27 percent in the second half and 32 percent for the game with 16 turnovers. We really did a good job of battling. It was a very physical game too. I think there were 61 foul shots attempted. It was a real war and an important win for us to get on a neutral court."
Q: Is there any temptation to look past Radford, and what have you seen from them from a scouting perceptive?
BH: "I would think that the last time we played at home [against Louisiana Tech] was a good example of to not look past anybody. If anybody is naïve enough to think that we can look past anybody, they haven't learned anything. So, there's no chance that that's going to happen."
"They've played a very difficult schedule. They beat Northwestern at Northwestern. They've played Bradley really tough, who has a good team. They have a really good guard who can score, Carlik Jones, who is a good player. I watched them against UNCG [University of North Carolina at Greensboro]. UNCG was a team that Watford barely beat in their conference tournament last year to get to the NCAA [Tournament]. UNCG lost to North Carolina State at the buzzer on Saturday, the same day we played Kansas State. UNCG basically beat them [Radford] at the buzzer two games ago. This is a team that is picked to win their conference. They play a difficult non-conference schedule, and we're going to have to play well to have success."
Q: How much do the guys on the team look to Abdul Ado as a leader on the team?
BH: "He definitely leads by example. He goes so hard every day. He's so physical, and he's so tough. He's always enthusiastic with helping with his teammates. He's a really good person off the floor. He's an incredibly hard worker. He works hard in the classroom, and he works hard on the basketball floor. He's a relentless worker in the weight room."
"Remember, he missed four months with that shoulder surgery. So, I think he's really doing a great job. His physicality is imposing. He's physical. You don't want to run into him out there. I'm excited for him. I thought that was a great game for him the other day. He had 13 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Reggie [Perry] had four blocks, and I think we had eight [blocks] for the game. He [Ado] is doing a lot of great things and things that don't show up on the stat sheet with his defense, as well."
Guard D.J. Stewart Jr.
Q: How much of a lift has Abdul given you offensively the last two games?
DJS: "Every game, we try to get Abdul [Ado] the ball and get him involved in the offense. He has really helped on offense, and he's made a big impact these past two games."
Q: What is Nick Weatherspoon going to bring to your backcourt?
DJS: "Nick is going to bring energy. He's definitely going to help us on the defensive side as well as the offensive side."
Q: "How has Nick Weatherspoon helped you get familiar with college basketball?
DJS: "My first year here, Nick was always guarding me. He's one of the best defenders I've ever played against. I've just been learning tips on how to play defense and what to do with the ball on offense."
Q: "How do you prepare for Radford knowing what happened last time out at home against Louisiana Tech?"
DJS: "We got that game [Louisiana Tech] out of the way. We have to focus on tomorrow, just learn from Louisiana Tech and keep going."
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State men's basketball faces the fourth of five non-conference opponents who are defending regular season conference champions from a season ago as Big South co-champion Radford visits Humphrey Coliseum on Wednesday.
The Bulldogs (7-2) have won two of their first three meetings versus those defending conference champions which include 67-58 and 67-61 comeback victories over Sam Houston State and Kansas State on 11/08 and 12/14, respectively.
Head coach Ben Howland along with D.J. Stewart Jr. met with the media leading into Tuesday's practice.
Wednesday's tip time is set for 7 p.m. CT. The game will be carried online only courtesy of SEC Network+ and the Watch ESPN platform.
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.
PROMOTIONS/TICKETS/SEC MINI PLANS
The Bulldogs next two home games against Radford (Dec. 18) and Kent State (Dec. 30) are "$1 General Admission Nights" with advanced purchase at www.HailState.com/tickets or in person at the Mississippi State Athletics Ticket Office located on the first floor of the Bryan Building. Discounted pricing will not be available on gamedays at the Humphrey Coliseum Box Office.
The first 500 fans to Wednesday's game will receive at "Home Alone" themed Bully Christmas Ornament.
It also marks "Christmas at the Hump" where children can take photos with Santa in the Kids Court pregame located in Mize Pavilion. Santa will read "Twas the Night before Christmas" to the children at halftime on the court.
The Bulldogs will play their annual Jackson game versus New Mexico State on Sunday, Dec. 22 at Mississippi Coliseum. Tickets for that matchup are available for $10, $15 and $25 plus fees via TicketMaster. Fans will have the opportunity to take a photo with "The Golden Egg" prior to the game.
Mississippi State is offering a $60 SEC four-game mini plan at www.HailState.com/tickets which features a trio of Saturday matchups against Georgia (Jan. 18), Tennessee (Feb. 1) and Ole Miss (March 7) in addition to the Alabama (Feb. 25) game.
For more gameday information, visit https://hailst.at/MBKGameday
Mississippi State Men's Basketball Media Session
December 17, 2019
Head Coach Ben Howland
Q: How dangerous will your offense become if Abdul [Ado] starts contributing more?
BH: "It's obviously great to see him gaining confidence, and our team finding him and feeding him. There's a lot of good passes. He got a couple of really big offensive rebounds against Kansas State. One was late in the game, and that was huge. It was a four-point game, and it extended our lead to six with a minute and a half to go. He had the follow one for the dunk earlier in the half. It's definitely a positive for us."
Q: How emotional do you think it's going to be for Nick Weatherspoon to return on Sunday in Jackson?
BH: "I think it's been a long, hard road for him to sit out 20 games. That's difficult. It really hurt us last year down the stretch, especially in the [NCAA] tournament, not having him against Liberty with the way they were playing small ball. It's been tough thus far this year. He'll be excited. I think it's going to be great to have him back out there, and I know he's looking forward to it."
Q: How much confidence did the comeback win over Kansas State give your team?
BH: "It was a really important win. We watched the second half today. We watched the first half yesterday. There are a lot of good things to learn from and things we have to get better at. What I'm most pleased about is we were down seven points with eight and a half minutes to go. We really hung in there."
"Even with four minutes to go, we were down three [points]. We won by playing good defense and getting some stops that created some offense. The go-ahead basket by D.J. [Stewart Jr.] was off of a turnover by our opponent. I think that was our best defensive game of the year. We held them to 27 percent in the second half and 32 percent for the game with 16 turnovers. We really did a good job of battling. It was a very physical game too. I think there were 61 foul shots attempted. It was a real war and an important win for us to get on a neutral court."
Q: Is there any temptation to look past Radford, and what have you seen from them from a scouting perceptive?
BH: "I would think that the last time we played at home [against Louisiana Tech] was a good example of to not look past anybody. If anybody is naïve enough to think that we can look past anybody, they haven't learned anything. So, there's no chance that that's going to happen."
"They've played a very difficult schedule. They beat Northwestern at Northwestern. They've played Bradley really tough, who has a good team. They have a really good guard who can score, Carlik Jones, who is a good player. I watched them against UNCG [University of North Carolina at Greensboro]. UNCG was a team that Watford barely beat in their conference tournament last year to get to the NCAA [Tournament]. UNCG lost to North Carolina State at the buzzer on Saturday, the same day we played Kansas State. UNCG basically beat them [Radford] at the buzzer two games ago. This is a team that is picked to win their conference. They play a difficult non-conference schedule, and we're going to have to play well to have success."
Q: How much do the guys on the team look to Abdul Ado as a leader on the team?
BH: "He definitely leads by example. He goes so hard every day. He's so physical, and he's so tough. He's always enthusiastic with helping with his teammates. He's a really good person off the floor. He's an incredibly hard worker. He works hard in the classroom, and he works hard on the basketball floor. He's a relentless worker in the weight room."
"Remember, he missed four months with that shoulder surgery. So, I think he's really doing a great job. His physicality is imposing. He's physical. You don't want to run into him out there. I'm excited for him. I thought that was a great game for him the other day. He had 13 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Reggie [Perry] had four blocks, and I think we had eight [blocks] for the game. He [Ado] is doing a lot of great things and things that don't show up on the stat sheet with his defense, as well."
Guard D.J. Stewart Jr.
Q: How much of a lift has Abdul given you offensively the last two games?
DJS: "Every game, we try to get Abdul [Ado] the ball and get him involved in the offense. He has really helped on offense, and he's made a big impact these past two games."
Q: What is Nick Weatherspoon going to bring to your backcourt?
DJS: "Nick is going to bring energy. He's definitely going to help us on the defensive side as well as the offensive side."
Q: "How has Nick Weatherspoon helped you get familiar with college basketball?
DJS: "My first year here, Nick was always guarding me. He's one of the best defenders I've ever played against. I've just been learning tips on how to play defense and what to do with the ball on offense."
Q: "How do you prepare for Radford knowing what happened last time out at home against Louisiana Tech?"
DJS: "We got that game [Louisiana Tech] out of the way. We have to focus on tomorrow, just learn from Louisiana Tech and keep going."
Players Mentioned
Josh Hubbard - "I'm Back"
Friday, April 17
MEN'S BASKETBALL | Chris Jans & Players SEC Tournament Postgame vs. Auburn - 3/11/26
Thursday, March 12
MEN'S BASKETBALL | Chris Jans Media Session - 3/9/26
Monday, March 09
MEN'S BASKETBALL | Josh Hubbard & Ja'Borri McGhee Postgame Press Conference vs. Georgia - 3/7/26
Sunday, March 08