McNair offers big lift, Bulldogs beat Rebels
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State found out on Saturday that where there was a Will, there was a way against arch rival Ole Miss.
With starting post player Tolu
Smith in a little bit of foul trouble during the second half, senior Will
McNair Jr. stepped up in key stretches and helped the Bulldogs defeat the Rebels 64-54 at Humphrey Coliseum.
McNair led MSU with 13 points in a little over 25 minutes on the court.
When Chris Jans left New Mexico State to become the head coach of the Bulldogs, he brought McNair with him.
Jans knows what he's going to get from McNair when he's out on the court.
“Obviously very familiar with Will and what he is capable of,” Jans said. “He's one of our vocal leaders on a daily basis in terms of helping people get in the right spots. Like the majority of college basketball players, he wants more on game day and wants more minutes. We are at a point now where if a guy plays 25 (minutes), then he wants 32. If he plays 32, he wants 36 and that's OK. I know how it works and
Will wants more. It's like I tell all of those guys that around here – you'll always have those opportunities if you work hard every day. Each day they will present themselves and when they do, you have to be ready and take advantage of it. When you produce, you'll get more minutes. It was nice to have him when Tolu was playing with foul issues. He stepped up and played like a veteran and helped us win the game.”
McNair scored a basket in the paint with 8:57 remaining in the game to give MSU a 43-41 lead. The Bulldogs did not trail again.
“It felt good that my team
mates trusted me with the ball and I felt like I could make the right play with it,” McNair said.
Dashawn Davis and Eric Reed Jr. hit one 3-point field goal each to give MSU a com
fortable 57-46 advantage with 2 minutes left in the game.
After shooting 31% from the floor (10-of-32) in the first half, the Bulldogs made 50% (13-of-26) in the second half to improve to 40% (23of-58) for the game.
McNair said the secondhalf offensive success all started on the defensive end.
“We just had to pick it up on defense, gets some stops in a row and motivate our offense for sure,” McNair said.
Jans knew how important beating Ole Miss was for everyone who supported MSU. He was looking more to avoid an 0-3 start in the Southeastern Conference and not getting in too big of a hole there.
“Our backs were against the wall and we had to win – plain and simple,” Jans said. “Everybody who follows us closely, knows where we were having lost three in a row, were 0-2 out of the gate (in the SEC), had already lost a home game (in the conference) and now we have our rivals coming in. There was a
lot of build up to this game for all of us.”
Instead it's the Rebels now facing an 0-3 start and fell to 8-7 overall.
Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis said the Bulldogs deserved credit for playing harder than his team did in the final 12 minutes.
“It absolutely hurts my
soul to say this, but Mississippi State out-toughed us,” Davis said.
Smith joined McNair in double figures with 12 points for MSU and scored his 1,000th career point in the process.
Now it's back on the road for MSU (12-3, 1-2) for an outing against Georgia in Athens on Wednesday. *