Photo by: Austin Perryman/MSU Athletics
Strength Down The Stretch
December 18, 2021 | Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State had already experienced the excruciating sting of defeat in close losses to Minnesota and Colorado State earlier this month.
The Bulldogs found themselves in yet another battle against Furman on Friday night but finally discovered the right recipe to walk away with a 69-66 win and improve to 8-3 on the year.
"We were only down six with about three minutes to go," said forward D.J. Jeffries. "That's plenty of time to get stops and score and be right back in the game. I just told everybody in the timeout to fight and get this win. This would've been a bad loss at home. We can't lose at home so we came out, played with energy and ended up getting big stops when we needed to, scored big buckets and ended up with the win."
Jeffries was a key cog in some of the Bulldogs' defensive stops down the stretch. Furman guard Alex Hunter helped the Paladins erase an 18-point deficit with his hot shooting from the perimeter. Hunter knocked down eight 3-pointers and had 30 points but was held scoreless for the final seven minutes after MSU assistant Ernie Zeigler suggested switching Jeffries over to guard the hot-shooting Hunter.
"I should've done that way earlier," said head coach Ben Howland. "Thank God Ernie told me to do that."
But Jeffries wasn't the only Bulldog making his presence felt on the defensive end. Cameron Matthews, who only logged three minutes during the first half due to a hip injury, gutted out 10 minutes during the second half and collected three steals. Two of those thefts came in the final three minutes and led to a dunk for himself and a layup for Shakeel Moore that gave Mississippi State the lead for good with 49 seconds remaining.
"I feel like any one of our players could have made those plays," Matthews said. "I just lucked up and was in that position. I just recognized it and made the plays on the ball."
MSU may have missed opportunities against Minnesota and Colorado State but Howland had faith his team would make the necessary adjustments when those situations arose in the future. And the Bulldogs certainly proved him right with their win over Furman.
"I believe in our team and believe we're going to win close games," Howland said.
Friday's victory may have been just the moral booster that the Bulldogs needed with only one more game standing between them and the start of Southeastern Conference play.
"We're learning how to fight through adversity," Jeffries said. "We're growing and getting better each and every day. We've just got to build on the things that we did good and improve on the things that we did bad."
MSU meets Winthrop at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson on Tuesday at 6 p.m. before beginning SEC play hosting Arkansas on Dec. 29.
The Bulldogs found themselves in yet another battle against Furman on Friday night but finally discovered the right recipe to walk away with a 69-66 win and improve to 8-3 on the year.
"We were only down six with about three minutes to go," said forward D.J. Jeffries. "That's plenty of time to get stops and score and be right back in the game. I just told everybody in the timeout to fight and get this win. This would've been a bad loss at home. We can't lose at home so we came out, played with energy and ended up getting big stops when we needed to, scored big buckets and ended up with the win."
Jeffries was a key cog in some of the Bulldogs' defensive stops down the stretch. Furman guard Alex Hunter helped the Paladins erase an 18-point deficit with his hot shooting from the perimeter. Hunter knocked down eight 3-pointers and had 30 points but was held scoreless for the final seven minutes after MSU assistant Ernie Zeigler suggested switching Jeffries over to guard the hot-shooting Hunter.
"I should've done that way earlier," said head coach Ben Howland. "Thank God Ernie told me to do that."
But Jeffries wasn't the only Bulldog making his presence felt on the defensive end. Cameron Matthews, who only logged three minutes during the first half due to a hip injury, gutted out 10 minutes during the second half and collected three steals. Two of those thefts came in the final three minutes and led to a dunk for himself and a layup for Shakeel Moore that gave Mississippi State the lead for good with 49 seconds remaining.
"I feel like any one of our players could have made those plays," Matthews said. "I just lucked up and was in that position. I just recognized it and made the plays on the ball."
MSU may have missed opportunities against Minnesota and Colorado State but Howland had faith his team would make the necessary adjustments when those situations arose in the future. And the Bulldogs certainly proved him right with their win over Furman.
"I believe in our team and believe we're going to win close games," Howland said.
Friday's victory may have been just the moral booster that the Bulldogs needed with only one more game standing between them and the start of Southeastern Conference play.
"We're learning how to fight through adversity," Jeffries said. "We're growing and getting better each and every day. We've just got to build on the things that we did good and improve on the things that we did bad."
MSU meets Winthrop at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson on Tuesday at 6 p.m. before beginning SEC play hosting Arkansas on Dec. 29.
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