MSU Hoops Closes The Deal Down the Stretch, Beats Vandy at Home
The Bulldogs closed out a win against the Vanderbilt Commodores 74-69 in a much-needed, confidence-boosting win.
Tolu Smith led all Bulldog scorers with 22 points, notching back-to-back 20 point performances for the first time in his career at MSU. Smith also led the charge on the boards, corralling 8 rebounds throughout the action. He managed to do all of that off the bench, too, as Javian Davis started in place of Smith for disciplinary reasons.
After Wednesday’s road loss against South Carolina, head coach Ben Howland said that to go dancing in March, this team had to play well down the stretch and in the SEC tournament. After the game, he spoke about what a win like this means when a team is in that frame of mind.
“It’s huge. It’s so big, and this league is so good. I think it’s the best league in the country,” said Howland, “We’ve been right there.”
Howland went on to speak on just how close this team has been in some of the big games this year like Tennessee and the second Arkansas game.
“It’s been frustrating to be so close with some of those top teams,” Howland said, “so hopefully we can have a chance to get over the hump in beating one of them come Wednesday night.”
The skipper was referring to the team’s much-anticipated matchup with the No. 3 ranked Auburn Tigers, who will visit The Hump this coming Wednesday. MSU has played well at home this season, and if there’s one area that Auburn has looked beatable in, it’s an away environment.
Howland and his boys will look to do just that in order to strengthen their resume’ for the SEC tournament later this week. That game tips off at 8 p.m. CT and will be aired on the SEC Network.
