Mississippi State
1-0,0-0SEC
Arizona State
0-1,0-0Pac-12
Fort Leads The Way In Dominant Season-Opening Win
November 09, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
MSU rolls to a 71-56 victory over Arizona State.
CHICAGO – It was just minutes before Mississippi State's season opener on Wednesday night when Trey Fort learned he'd be starting for the Bulldogs. The junior college transfer insisted he wasn't fazed at all at the news he'd be making his MSU debut right when the game tipped.
"We walked in after warm-ups, I saw my name on the board and I'm just always ready," Fort said.
Yes, he was.
Fort scored a team-high 21 points and won the game's Most Valuable Player honor as he guided the Dawgs to a 71-56 victory over Arizona State at the Barstool Sports Invitational. The junior guard sank five 3s, including four of them in the first half, to push MSU to a big early lead it never relinquished.
Coming into the game, head coach Chris Jans and his staff debated who'd draw the start that Fort ended up getting. Safe to say Jans was pleased with his ultimate choice.
"We had discussions about a lot of guys," Jans explained. "We got lucky and picked the right one."
Fort scored 14 of his 21 points in the game's first 20 minutes to help the Maroon and White take a commanding 39-18 lead by halftime. The Bulldogs closed the opening period on a 30-8 run as they made 12 of their final 18 shots from the field.
A third of those makes came from the hot hand of Fort, as he scored 11 points in just over a three-minute stretch of action. Fort's baskets grew MSU's lead from 19-14 to 32-16 and the Sun Devils never got any closer than 14 the rest of the way.
"That's what I've been doing my whole life," Fort said of his scoring ability. "I've been a shooter. I just don't think about the misses. [I believe] the next one is going to fall. I believe all of them are going in."
On Wednesday, many of them certainly did. And Fort wasn't the only MSU player who made baskets and a big first Bulldog impression.
Center Jimmy Bell Jr. shined as well. One of the primary individuals who'll attempt to pick up the slack until All-Southeastern Conference post presence Tolu Smith can return from injury made an early statement he's more than capable of shouldering whatever load he needs to.
Bell just missed a double-double. He scored 13 points and brought down nine rebounds.
"I don't try to come in and be like anybody else," Bell said. "I just come in and do my job and do what I've got to do to the best of my ability."
Bell's best is more than enough for Jans, who feels incredibly fortunate to have landed the big man from West Virginia – particularly given Smith's current absence. And while Bell didn't have a reputation for being a huge scorer with the Mountaineers, it wasn't a shock to Jans to see Bell making five of his six field goals on Wednesday.
"He can [score] around the basket," Jans said of Bell. "He just didn't have a ton of touches at West Virginia. I was surprised by his wind, though. He didn't play a ton of minutes last year, but he played 25 minutes [Wednesday] and looked pretty good. I love coaching him. He is all business. He is very coachable, and I am sure glad we have him with the situation we are in."
While Fort and Bell carried much of the State freight, Dashawn Davis chipped in 10 points for the night. Cameron Matthews came up only a couple of points and a rebound shy of a double-double, scoring eight with nine boards. Shawn Jones Jr. tallied eight points as well. Freshman Josh Hubbard scored six in his first collegiate game, courtesy of a pair of treys.
In all as a team, State made 10 of its 26 shots from long range. The 38.5 shooting percentage from beyond the arc stands as nearly a 12-percent increase from last year's season-long total.
It's only one game, but it's certainly a strong start to turning around last season's long-range woes.
One thing that looked much the same on Wednesday though was the stingy State defense Jans demands. The Bulldogs limited the Sun Devils to 32.1 percent shooting as a group, including just 26.1 percent in the first half as MSU constructed its huge, insurmountable edge.
And right there leading the charge, putting State in comfortable position for the season-opening triumph was Fort.
It was unquestionably a great night for Fort and the Bulldogs. But all parties know they can't rest on the success of 40 minutes of basketball in November. A long season awaits.
Starting with Saturday's 4 p.m. home opener at the new-look Humphrey Coliseum, the Bulldogs will look to build even more early momentum.
"This was just one," Fort said. "We've got to keep it going."
