Mississippi State
8-3,0-0SEC
Furman
7-5,0-0SoCon
Gutting It Out
December 17, 2021 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
Cameron Matthews battles through a hip injury to lead Mississippi State to victory.
STARKVILLE – There wasn't an 'S' on his chest. There was only a Mississippi State logo and a maroon No. 4. But on Friday night, when the Bulldogs needed him most, Cameron Matthews turned into State's Superman.
After MSU lost an 18-point lead and found itself trailing by six with under four minutes to play, Matthews gutted through a hip ailment and was the driving force behind a 69-66 Bulldog win over Furman.
Matthews' box score line? Seemingly not all that impressive. He scored just two points. He had only two rebounds. There was an assist, a block and three steals. Well, this is a case where the numbers lie.
Both points, both rebounds and two of Matthews' steals came in the final 3:50. All were game changers, desperately needed after Furman's long-range assault that had put the Paladins in control. Enter Matthews to bring Furman's momentum to a screeching halt.
"I saw [Furman] hit some big 3s," Matthews said. "I saw some of our guys drop their heads and I was just trying to come in and be the energy and lift everybody's heads up so we could get on the run we did so we could win."
Mission accomplished, Matthews.
His first huge moment came with 2:44 remaining and the Bulldogs down 64-61. Matthews jumped in front of a Furman inbound pass near midcourt, came away with the ball, found himself all alone sprinting towards the basket and put the exclamation mark on the play with a thunderous slam. Like that, MSU trailed by only one.
The Bulldogs were still down just a point at 66-65 with under a minute on the clock. Matthews wasn't done yet.
He had another steal by the baseline under Furman's goal. Matthews passed to Shakeel Moore who put Mississippi State in front for good with a layup on the other end.
The clutch plays of Matthews would have been impressive coming from someone totally healthy. Matthews, however, was not.
He's been battling a hip flexor injury he suffered in MSU's game against Colorado State last Saturday. Matthews sat out this past Tuesday's game against Georgia State. However, by Friday he felt ready to go, even if still in a bit of pain.
"I knew I was going to play," Matthews said. "I've been getting treatment in. Our trainer has had me feeling really good lately, so I knew I was going to play."
And play Matthews did, though he didn't start and saw just 13 total minutes of action. The final three proved to be three of Mississippi State's most crucial moments of the season to this point.
Despite his hurt, Matthews wouldn't be denied.
"Cam brings the necessary energy we need," Matthews' former Olive Branch (Miss.) High teammate and now collegiate teammate, D.J. Jeffries said. "He does the little things for us that doesn't necessarily show up on the stat sheet. He plays hard and he plays with a big heart. That's my guy. He's been doing that since we've been in high school. I'm proud of him. He's playing through injury and playing tough. He's the focal point of the defense tonight. He made big plays when we needed them, and he always does that. Couldn't be more proud of him."
Supporting Matthews' efforts, there were four Bulldogs who scored in double figures. Garrison Brooks scored 18. Iverson Molinar and Jeffries had 14 each. Moore tallied 12.
With each of those Bulldogs piling up the points early on, it once looked as though there'd be no need for any kind of MSU heroics late. State led Furman 29-11 in the first half and the Bulldogs were up 35-24 at the intermission.
But the Paladins got red-hot from three-point range to surge ahead before State mounted a rally of its own. Furman again relied on shots from outside the perimeter to try and snatch the game from the Bulldogs late.
Three times in the final 32 seconds, the Paladins took three-point attempts to try and either take the lead or tie. None fell. The first two in particular took State head coach Ben Howland's breath away with the thought the efforts of Matthews and the Bulldogs were about to all be for naught.
"My heart stopped," Howland said about watching the shots go up. "When your heart stops, then you know it's pretty serious. And they were wide-open shots. I'm thankful to the man in heaven they were both errant shots."
Something else, or more specifically, someone else that Howland is thankful for is Matthews. Those final Furman shots were indeed off, so when the final horn sounded, it was official. Matthews had sparked Mississippi State to the win.
What a night it was for Matthews.
"He's a Mississippi State guy," Howland said of Matthews. "He's a great teammate. He's a great kid. He has excellent toughness. I'm incredibly proud of him for what he showed us tonight. We don't win the game without him those last five minutes."
