Mississippi State set to open season against Clemson
As Mississippi State gets set to face Clemson Wednesday night to begin the 2020-21 basketball season, the Bulldogs aren't just battling the Tigers. Like they've been doing for months, they continue to square off against the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic as well. And at the moment at least, that's an opponent MSU has pretty successfully defended, even as programs around the country have been forced to cancel games and shift schedules.
"Coach told us to think like most people have COVID," redshirt sophomore guard D.J. Stewart said of how the Bulldogs have been handling things. "So we're staying away from everybody to keep our family safe here on the inside (of the team)."
So far so good. The Bulldogs haven't had any stoppages inside their basketball program this fall and the 7 p.m. central game Wednesday (televised by CBS College Sports Network) is on as MSU begins its run at the Space Coast Challenge in Melbourne, Florida. And it's a new season and a new day for the Bulldogs.
Gone are key faces from last year – Reggie Perry, Robert Woodard II, Tyson Carter and Nick Weatherspoon. This is now a team lead by senior center Abdul Ado, along with Stewart. At their sides are a handful of freshmen, other youngsters and transfers looking to keep MSU basketball from sliding backwards. The Bulldogs have three consecutive 20-win seasons and don't plan to slow down even with all of this year's turnover, but head coach Ben Howland doesn't seem to be under any illusions that will be easy.
"We're in a rebuilding mode here," Howland said. "We lost our four leading scorers from last year's team. We're very young and inexperienced."
As the youthful Bulldogs get set to be tested immediately by the Tigers, here are a trio of notes headed into tonight's game:
Grown-up Tigers
Mississippi State is dealing with a great deal of youth on its roster, however Clemson is very much a veteran bunch. The Tigers return four of their top five scorers from a season ago headed by Aamir Sims who scored 13 points and brought down 7.2 rebounds per game a season ago. He is a preseason All-ACC First-Team selection and listed on the Karl Malone Award Watch list given to the nation’s top power forward.
"All of those guys are back with the exception of one guy," Howland said of Clemson. "They’ve added some really good pieces. P.J. Hall, the freshman coming in, I loved when I watched him in AAU. They’re very, very good and really well coached. We’ve definitely got our hands full with Clemson, which we knew. It’s going to be an incredible challenge, especially for a number of these kids that are playing for the first time in high major basketball.”
Guess who's starting
Feel free to guess who State will run out as its starting five on Wednesday night, but that's all you'll be able to do until the game tips off. Howland isn't giving away his hand.
"I'm not trying to help our opponent prepare for us," Howland said with a grin. "That will all come out as we get ready for the game."
Howland said ideally, he does want to find a starting lineup and rotation that becomes set so guys can settle into their roles. And while Howland is playing things close to his vest, it seems certain Stewart will start in one of the guard spots with Ado at center. Sophomore Tolu Smith likely has an edge to join Ado in the frontcourt. The rest of State's starting lineup is likely to be made up of some combination of sophomore Iverson Molinar, freshman Deivon Smith and freshman Cameron Matthews.
On deck for the Dogs
Mississippi State will play another game in Florida on Thursday against a to-be-determined opponent. The Bulldogs will face either Liberty or Purdue to wrap up the Space Coast Challenge. Tip time is set for either 5 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. central. That game will be televised by CBS College Sports Network as well.
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