Men’s Hoops Returns to Win Column Over Central Arkansas, 81-65

Wednesday, December 16

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

Central Arkansas

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

Men’s Hoops Returns to Win Column Over Central Arkansas, 81-65

December 16, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Quotes (PDF)Video: T. Smith and Johnson Presser Video: Coach Howland Presser Photo Gallery Photo Gallery

by Mikaela Elizondo, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – Jalen Johnson delivered a spark with a season's best 15 points during his first start in Maroon and White as the Mississippi State men's basketball team ripped off an 81-65 victory over Central Arkansas on Wednesday at Humphrey Coliseum.

The Bulldogs (4-3) improved to 41-4 in their non-conference home games under sixth-year coach Ben Howland and have won all four non-con games by an average of 15.5 points per contest this season.

Johnson canned two of his three triples in the second half and was a flawless 6-of-6 from the foul line. The Baton Rouge native eclipsed 1,100 career points and registered his 52nd career game in double figures. He has collected 10-plus points in two of his last four outings.

D.J. Stewart Jr. fired in 17 points, grabbed six rebounds and matched a career-best with five assists. He was 7-of-13 shooting and knocked down a trio of three-pointers.

Iverson Molinar added 14 points and two steals, while Tolu Smith secured his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Stewart Jr. and Smith have come away with double figures during Mississippi State's first seven games of the season. The seven-game run is tied for the eighth-longest in program history to start a season going back to the 1958-59 season. The last MSU combo to accomplish the feat was Timmy Bowers and Michal Ignerski in 2002-03.

Off the bench, Javian Davis provided nine points and eight rebounds. Cameron Matthews tucked away an efficient five points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Abdul Ado garnered six points, five rebounds and two blocks. Andersson Garcia and Quinten Post rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs.

Mississippi State hit on 29-of-61 from the field (47.5 percent), dialed up a season's best 10 triples on 21 attempts (47.6 percent) and sank 13-of-19 from the foul line (68.4 percent). The Bulldogs worked their way to a 41-33 advantage on the glass and held a 19-8 edge on second-chance points.

Central Arkansas (0-6) connected for a 24-of-61 shooting performance (39.3 percent), 7-of-18 on its three-pointers (47.6) and 10-of-12 at the charity stripe (83.3 percent). The Bears received a boost from Eddy Kayouloud's 20 points off the bench, whereas Rylan Bergersen notched 15 points, five assists and three steals.

FROM THE BENCH – COACH HOWLAND
"He [Jalen Johnson] has played [in all of the games], except for Dayton, about half of the game. Obviously, those minutes are going to rise in this starting role. What I love about him is when he played sparingly against Dayton, he had a great attitude. He wasn't pouting, and he was mature. It shows me how much he cares about his team and about winning. That's ultimately the most important thing is doing everything you can do to win. He's a good leader, and he's an incredibly hard worker. We're having to tell him to get off the court and not workout four hours a day, on top of our practices. He's a relentless guy in the gym. His shot is so good because he works on it so much. I'm really proud of him."

"I thought Cameron [Matthews], who had been starting, handled his role coming off the bench really well and gave us big minutes off the bench. He hit a big shot from three, did a good job defensively and had a couple of assists. He's going to continue to play a very important role for our team. You have to have a deep bench to be a good team in this day and age."

"D.J. [Stewart Jr.] had an incredible game tonight. He had six defensive rebounds, five assists, only two turnovers, shot it really well and he really played smart. Tolu [Smith] had another double-double. That's what we talk about. We want to have four guys that we can count on to give us a balanced attack every night, in terms of double figures and hopefully get a fifth from Abdul [Ado], Deivon [Smith] or one of the other bigs."

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM – JALEN JOHNSON
"It felt great. When I got out there, I wanted to make a good first impression as a starter in front of the Bulldog Nation, and I think I did that. [Being able to score], it opens up the floor. It opens up the floor for D.J. [Stewart Jr.] and Iverson [Molinar]. It opens up the post as well. If they help off on me, that gives Abdul [Ado] and Tolu [Smith] space to work on their moves."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Mississippi State didn't take long to grab the lead over Central Arkansas. A trio of jump shots from D.J. Stewart Jr. and Iverson Molinar within the opening 90 seconds gave the Bulldogs an early 6-0 lead.

Rylan Bergersen provided the spark for Central Arkansas as he recorded the team's first eight points to tie the game at 8-8 with 16:23 left.

The Bulldogs fired back with eight consecutive points as Jalen Johnson and Stewart Jr. canned a treys to make it 16-8 at the 14:25 mark.

Tied 24-24 at the 8:18 mark, Cameron Matthews hit a ten-foot runner off the glass and drained a trifecta from the right wing to ignite State's next flurry. Tolu Smith tacked on a layup off an offensive rebound to stretch the Bulldogs lead to 31-24 with 6:26 to go.

Stewart Jr. capped a 10-point opening stanza with a stepback midrange jumper to beat the halftime buzzer and bring the tally to 39-35 heading into the locker room.

Mississippi State relied on six three-pointers during the second 20 minutes and registered 16 of the first 22 points after the intermission to extend the lead to 55-41 at the 14:08 mark. Six different players scored during the run for the Bulldogs.

Mississippi State grabbed its largest lead, 67-49, with 6:56 remaining as Stewart Jr. turned defense into offense with a steal and a layup.

Andersson Garcia drained his first career three pointer in the Maroon and White for the final bucket to bring the final margin to 81-65.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State wraps up the December portion of its non-conference schedule against Mississippi Valley State on Monday. Tip time is on-tap for 7 p.m. CT from Humphrey Coliseum televised by the SEC Network and available online courtesy of the Watch ESPN app.

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.