Johnson leads MSU to win over Central Arkansas

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Jalen Johnson had to wait until Mississippi State's seventh game to make his first-ever start as a Bulldog. For the first six games this season, the transfer from Louisiana-Lafayette was relegated to coming off the bench. After his performance on Wednesday night, It's safe to say Johnson might better keep his starting shoes on.

Johnson scored 15 points to help Mississippi State defeat Central Arkansas 81-65 at Humphrey Coliseum. It was a standout performance from a guy who waited his time, then delivered when it arrived.

"He just makes me look stupid that I wasn't starting him earlier," MSU head coach Ben Howland said of Johnson. "It's obviously a huge difference for our team offensively to have him on the floor spacing the floor for us."

Johnson was 3-for-5 from 3-point range to key his big night. He was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line as he made the most of his big opportunity.

Of course starting is nothing new for Johnson. He's a senior that has plenty of previous career experience beginning games. In fact, Johnson had 77 career starts over three combined seasons at Saint Louis and Louisiana-Lafayette prior to arriving at MSU. Career start 78 was special for Johnson though as he gave his new squad a big-time jolt and helped them bounce back from a tough, double-overtime loss against Dayton last Saturday.

"It felt great," Johnson said. "When I got out there, personally, I wanted to make a good impression as a starter in front of the Bulldog nation and I think I (did) that."

Johnson's production helped spread the floor and create plenty of opportunities for others as well. In fact three other players besides Johnson scored in double figures. D.J. Stewart led the Bulldogs with 17 points. Iverson Molinar totaled 14. Tolu Smith notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

And even the guy Johnson replaced in State's starting lineup, freshman Cameron Matthews, seemed comfortable in his new role as a reserve. He scored five points and had a couple of rebounds, an assist and a block.

With all the production, the Bulldogs never trailed in the game. It was tight at times. In fact, MSU led Central Arkansas just 39-35 at halftime. But a 21-9 State run over the first part of the second half gave the Bulldogs plenty of breathing room to coast to the victory, improving their season record to 4-3. Meanwhile, Central Arkansas fell to 0-6.

Mississippi State out-rebounded the Bears 41-33 and the Bulldogs held Central Arkansas to just 33 percent shooting in the second half and 39 percent overall to claim victory.

Maybe the sweetest part of the win though for MSU was the play of Johnson as he showed how valuable he can be. That said, he was valuable already before Wednesday as a strong piece off the bench and the consummate team player.

"He's handled (coming off the bench for the first six games) very well," Tolu Smith said of Johnson. "For him to come off the bench at the beginning of the season I'm sure was tough. (It would be) for anybody. I just knew his time would come and he shined."

Now, it seems certain Johnson will continue to get opportunities to provide for the Bulldogs in a starting role. He'll almost assuredly be back in the starting five when MSU returns to action on Monday for a 7 p.m. home game against Mississippi Valley State. But even if he's not for some reason, Johnson is cool with that, too.

"At the beginning of the season, my role was to come off the bench and provide energy and bring offense and I wanted to do that. I didn't see (any) problem with that," Johnson said. "I'm a guy that likes to accept my role, whatever my role is. What the coach tells me, I'll do to my best ability."

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