Mississippi State
7-3,0-0SEC
Georgia State
5-4,0-0Sun Belt
Taking Care Of Business
December 14, 2021 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
Resilient Bulldogs earn much-needed victory over Georgia State.
STARKVILLE – The past is in the past.
When Mississippi State hit the court on Tuesday night at Humphrey Coliseum against Georgia State, all that mattered was the here and now. Tough losses to Minnesota and Colorado State were in the rearview mirror for the Bulldogs. As head coach Ben Howland so eloquently put it earlier in the week, Tuesday was all about MSU starting to handle its business.
Well, consider it handled.
Mississippi State cruised to a 79-50 win over Georgia State. It was a much-needed Bulldog victory that put some salve on recent wounds and, perhaps more importantly, reestablished some momentum for the Maroon and White in a display of just how good MSU can be.
"We've been dying for a win," MSU forward Derek Fountain said. "This feels good. It puts a great taste in our mouths. It brings back the positive vibes. No more heads down."
Fountain perhaps said it better than anyone. The last week-plus has certainly been frustrating to say the least. However, then came Tuesday – a 40-minute reminder of Mississippi State's incredible potential.
There was Iverson Molinar, doing what Iverson Molinar does. The junior guard and team leader paced MSU with 18 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
D.J. Jeffries also entered double figures in scoring, tallying a MSU career-high tying 15.
Fountain scored 10 and came up one rebound shy of a double-double, bringing down a career-best nine boards. Perhaps more impressively, he did so when basically forced into starting duty.
With last year's top Southeastern Conference rebounder, Tolu Smith, sidelined with a broken pinky toe and one of MSU's best defensive performers, Cameron Matthews, out with a hip ailment, Fountain more than picked up the slack.
In addition to his scoring and rebounding, Fountain had three steals and three assists. It was an impressive showing that illustrated one of the reasons Mississippi State remains so optimistic about what lies ahead. This is one deep roster.
"Even the freshmen stepped up," Molinar said. "Cam Carter gave us some good minutes off the bench. We're really excited about this team."
Carter finished with three assists, a block, a steal and seven points. In fact, 23 of MSU's points came from its reserves.
All told, 11 different Bulldogs scored at least two points. MSU shot 54.5 percent as a team, dished out 21 assists on its 24 buckets and limited Georgia State to just 32.8 percent shooting. It was Mississippi State domination from beginning to end.
Once Shakeel Moore's layup on a fast break gave the Bulldogs a 10-8 lead just over three minutes into the game, MSU never trailed again. State increased its advantage to 21 by halftime and coasted from there.
It bears noting all of this came against a quality foe. In the preseason, Georgia State was predicted to win the Sun Belt Conference by league coaches. Yet there the Panthers were on Tuesday night, handled easily by a hungry group of Bulldogs who were eager for redemption.
"We really needed this," Howland said. "It's heart-wrenching to be in a game [like against Minnesota] when you're tied with a minute to go, and you lose at home. Then, to have an eight-point lead with six minutes to go and let it slip away and not finish the deal [against Colorado State]…These kids really care. We have a great group of young men that are really together and I'm really proud of the effort [on Tuesday]."
Perhaps no moment encapsulated the meaning of the evening better than one in the closing seconds. On his birthday, junior guard Isaac Stansbury scored his first career points with a floater in the lane to put the exclamation point on State's win.
When the final horn sounded, Stansbury's teammates mobbed him on the floor in celebration, jumping up and down with smiles all around.
Those two losses earlier in the month? Seemingly a distant memory.
This was a team having fun. This was a team that dominated. This was team that handled its business and showed it's completely capable of handling a lot more.
"This was big for us," Molinar said. "I feel like the team needed this. We needed this bounce back. We know what's down the road and this kind of brought us back together."
