Tolu Smith Returns in Thunderous Fashion, Bulldogs Thump the Hogs in SEC Opener
Mississippi State men’s hoops cruised past the Arkansas Razorbacks to improve to 10-3 on the season via a final score of 81- 68 Wednesday night to open SEC play.
Coming into the game, MSU was ranked at No. 42 on the kenpom.com rankings, with Arkansas checking in at No. 44 after a couple of tough losses. The Bulldogs handed the team their third tough loss, though, behind an impressive return outing from big man Tolu Smith, an impressive shooting from Shakeel Moore and yet another solid performance from Iverson Molinar, who is still putting together an All-SEC type year.
Smith finished with 18 points and 6 boards on 5-8 shooting, while Moore poured in 15 more and 5 assists, with 9 of his points coming from behind the arc. Molinar, though, turned in another stat sheet-stuffer, tallying 16 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Before the game, head coach Ben Howland had mentioned that he was impressed with how much more Molinar had developed as a point guard as opposed to the previous season, and the veteran guard continues to show just why.
Perhaps the most important stat from this game, though, was just how much MSU managed to get to the charity stripe. The Bulldogs earned 28 attempts from the line in their victory, sinking 22, for a 78.6% mark from the free-throw line - that’ll play, Bulldog fans.
“Obviously I’m really happy for the win,” said Howland after the game, “I thought that our guys did a really good job today battling and really competing hard…We had 12 steals as a team and forced them (Arkansas) into 17 turnovers, which is huge… Our depth really helped us today.”
After coming out flat against Minnesota and dropping a tough one late against Colorado State, many fans were wondering whether this Bulldog team was going to find some kind of identity, but over the course of the last three games, it almost looks like that argument has been laid to rest.
This is a team that knows how to use their size - they’re second in the SEC in terms of rebounding behind Kentucky. They have to be able to hound ball handlers without fouling and get points in transition and mismatches, because the half court offense, while serviceable at times, still has room to improve.
The Bulldogs were no doubt excited to leave 2021 on a high note, but their next opponent is that of the Missouri Tigers, who at the time of writing this article are well on their way to being 6-7 as the Kentucky Wildcats are routing them in Rupp Arena. That game takes place on January 5th with an 8:00 p.m. tip-off.
