On To The Next One
March 10, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
Bulldogs turn their attention to Tennessee as SEC Tournament run continues.
TAMPA, Fla. – Moments after a Thursday night win over South Carolina at the Southeastern Conference Tournament, Mississippi State forward Garrison Brooks calmly spoke.
Brooks was happy with his team's 73-51 triumph over the Gamecocks, sure. But there was no sense of great jubilation. Why?
Frankly, there's no time for that. There's no reason for that. There's just too much left for the Bulldogs to do this week.
"The main thing is just go 1-0 every day and take it one step at the time," Brooks stated.
MSU went 1-0 on Thursday. The Bulldogs will now try to go undefeated over another 24-hour stretch on Friday and get one step closer to a magical March.
Mississippi State takes on Tennessee in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday at 5 p.m. CT. The Bulldogs know all too well the challenge that awaits them.
"They're really good," MSU head coach Ben Howland said of the Volunteers. "I mean, I'm so impressed with them and how they move the ball. They're in the top 10 in defensive efficiency in the country. They have depth. The way the bigs have stepped up and taken over for [injured forward Oliver Nkamhoua], who was really a good player – a very good player. They've really stepped it up.
"And I love [guard Santiago] Vescovi. I voted for him for first-team [All-SEC]…He is their most important player. Those two other guards are great. I mean, I love [Kennedy] Chandler. I love [Zakai] Zeigler. But Vescovi, man, all the coaches voted for him…He is really good. Then [Josiah-Jordan] James, the lefty, is phenomenal. He is having a great year. I voted for him for all-league second team. I had three players on their team on all-league. That's what I think of Tennessee."
Howland and his team know from firsthand experience how good the Vols can be. Tennessee came to Starkville and topped MSU 72-63 last month. But even in defeat, the Bulldogs gained a measure of confidence.
State fought back from an early 12-point deficit and held a lead with under five minutes to play in the year's first meeting against the Vols. The night ended on a sour note, but the Bulldogs haven't forgotten they were right there and feel like they learned lessons they can take into Friday.
"I feel like we just have to close the game better this time," Iverson Molinar said. "We just have to execute at the end of the game, which is something we didn't do the last time we played Tennessee. We have to take better care of the ball because I feel like we had too many turnovers in that game, too. And just do the right things down the stretch and make the right decisions."
Adds Brooks: "We're going to have to play defense over the entire shot clock. They're going to make you really work. On offense, we'll have to try to find the shots we really want. Tennessee is just a really good team."
But State can be a good team itself. The Bulldogs flashed their potential on Thursday to take down the Gamecocks.
Tolu Smith continued his late-season resurgence. He scored 20 against South Carolina and completed the double-double with 12 rebounds. Smith has now averaged just over 20 points a game and eight rebounds a contest over his last five outings.
"He's just being himself and getting a lot better every game," Brooks said of Smith. "It's just what we needed. We're a much better team when we have him going like that."
Iverson Molinar scored 19 on Thursday. The All-SEC First Teamer has scored in double figures in every game this season.
Shakeel Moore scored 10 and also contributed in other ways with five rebounds and five assists.
Brooks totaled nine points. Andersson Garcia started for the first time ever and scored seven points to go along with 14 rebounds, four assists, a couple of blocks and a steal.
It was just the latest example of Garcia's emergence. He's nearly averaging a double-double over his last four games at 9.3 points and 10 boards per outing.
"It's awesome," Brooks said of Garcia. "It's great to see the year-to-year growth that he's had. He works so hard to bring energy to the team and he's really good for us."
Odds are, the Bulldogs will need another day of total team production to have a successful Friday against Tennessee. And make no mistake, as Brooks insinuated, Friday is now all that matters on the quest to try and earn the crown that'd send the Bulldogs dancing later this month.
MSU only needs three more 1-0 days to accomplish its stated mission.
"We just have to go out there and execute," Molinar said. "We're confident we can win it all and that's our mindset right now – trying to win it all."
