Smith's big homecoming fuels MSU win in SEC opener at Georgia

Freshman's career night helps carry Mississippi State

Iverson Molinar was in foul trouble early during Mississippi State's Southeastern Conference opener at Georgia on Wednesday night. MSU's starting point guard had a pair of personals less than two minutes into the game. Luckily for the maroon-and-white clad Bulldogs, there was a true freshman waiting in the wings to shine in his return to his home state.

Deivon Smith – originally from just about an hour up the road in Loganville, Georgia – had himself a night with a career-best 13 points. All came in the first half in relief of Molinar to put Mississippi State on the way to an 83-73 victory over previously unbeaten Georgia.

"That was real sweet," Smith said. "I feel like I've been trying to find myself all season. I feel like that boosted my confidence a lot. It was a real good team win we all put together to get our first SEC win of the season."

Boosted from the crowd by a supporting cast of multiple family members and friends, Smith was on fire early to lift MSU and ease the pain of Molinar having to sit on the bench as he avoided deeper foul issues. Smith played 15 of the final 18 minutes of the first half and almost couldn't miss. Smith was 4-for-6 from the field including 3-for-3 from three-point range over the course of the first half. He was 2-for-3 from the free-throw line in the period.

Making Smith's showing all the more impressive is he did it all on the heels of a concussion he sustained in practice only a few days ago. However he bounced back with a performance fueled in part by many nights of late-night work that has helped boost his offensive game.

"He's working really hard," MSU head coach Ben Howland said of Smith. "It's something that's a part of our program now – the work ethic gets passed down.

"You can see how good of a shooter (Smith) is going to be for us and it's all about putting in the work. He put in the work. He built the confidence. He was letting (those shots) go (Wednesday night), no problem. He was shooting like 12 percent coming into the game from (three-point range). But it's a whole new season. I told everybody this is a new season. Non-conference is over. We're 1-0 in our new season. Everybody gets a fresh start and he really took advantage of that."

Wednesday's contest was just the second time in Smith's young career that he has eclipsed the five-point mark in a game. His previous career best was a 10-point effort in the season's second game in which MSU lost to Liberty.

There was no losing on this night however. Behind Smith's early spark and Molinar's strong showing in the second half, State (6-3, 1-0) never trailed in the contest. It was a tremendous performance from the opening tip to the final buzzer for MSU to hand Georgia its first loss (7-1, 0-1).

Molinar had a stellar second half to finish with a game-high 24 points. D.J. Stewart ended the game with 18. Defensively, State held Georgia to 40 percent shooting for the contest, but just 24 percent in the first half as MSU built its commanding lead. 

"I thought our defense in the first half was as good of defense as we've played since I've been here at Mississippi State," Howland said.

Behind that stingy defense, State led 41-27 at the intermission. MSU was then up by double figures for nearly the entire second half, save for the final couple of minutes when Georgia closed the gap to eight for only a few seconds.

In the end, MSU settled for the 10-point win and maybe more importantly for the long haul, a potentially career-boosting night for Smith.

"His first couple of games (this year) were tough," Molinar said of Smith. "I've been through that. Coming from high school and going to college is a big transition. He just is getting more and more and more comfortable. That's what we want from him."

A continually-improving Smith could certainly benefit MSU come Saturday. That's when State returns to action, hosting Kentucky at 5 p.m. at Humphrey Coliseum.

The Wildcats will head to Starkville with a very un-Kentucky-like 1-6 record. But Howland said his Bulldogs won't be fooled by that.

"They've played Kansas and Louisville at Louisville," Howland said of Kentucky. "They've played Carolina. They've played probably the toughest schedule in the country.

"They're going to be very tough...We know how talented they are and how well-coached they are and we're going to have to play our very best to have a chance to win that game."

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCES

MSU head coach Ben Howland

MSU guard Deivon Smith

MSU guard Iverson Molinar

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