Freshman Molinar impressive in win
South Alabama men’s basketball coach Richie Riley said the Mississippi State Bulldogs are a different team at the guard position with the graduation of Quinndary Weatherspoon.
MSU fans don’t have to worry about that too much in Riley’s opinion because he may have seen the next standout guard for the Bulldogs on Sunday with freshman Iverson Molinar.
Molinar scored 15 points and five steals in his first chance to get on the court for a game as MSU defeated South Alabama 78-75 in exhibition action at Humphrey Coliseum.
“He falls in line with some of the other guards of this program,” Riley said. “He’ll be the next one.
“He has speed. He was explosive. He made some big time pull-up shots.”
Molinar hit 6-of-12 shots from the field and had eight of his points in the second half as the Bulldogs built a lead, then had to hold off a late charge by the Jaguars.
Getting the experience, even though the game didn’t count as a win or a loss, was very important for Molinar.
“It does feel good,” Molinar said. “It was my first college game. Being able to play with experienced guys and going out to play as hard as I can was just a blessing.”
Molinar said it’s important to build on the performance as he continues to look for minutes with MSU.
Senior Bulldog Tyson Carter was not surprised at all by the play of Molinar. Carter saw it coming because of the way Molinar practices.
“I knew exactly what was going to happen,” Carter said. “He’s a really good player and one of the best I’ve ever played with. He can get out in transition because he’s so athletic and he can really finish with both hands.”
MSU head coach Ben Howland was happy to be able to play an exhibition game against a team like South Alabama. He called the Jaguars an NCAA Tournament team and they played like it down the stretch on Sunday.
After having a 14-point lead at one time at 66-52 and an 11-point lead at 7261 with 2:15 remaining in the game, the Bulldogs saw South Alabama come all of the way back to cut the margin to 74-73 and 76-75 in the final minute.
Howland said the competitiveness of the game at the end allowed for some good teaching moments.
“We’re a young team and had guys playing out there for the first time,” Howland said. “They are learning. They’ve got to learn time and score. When you are up 11 with the ball, that is not the time to quick shoot. It’s a time to use clock and stay up 11. We’ll learn from that.”
Carter, a former Starkville High School player, led MSU with 19 points, while Reggie Perry and Keyshawn Feazell added 12 points each. Perry and Feazell just missed on a double-double with nine rebounds each.
Sunday’s game was a benefit to help raise money through the United Way of West Central Mississippi for those affected by the flood waters in the South Delta. There have been over 500 homes and approximately 225,000 acres of farmland damaged by the record floods.
The Bulldogs will now look to their season opener on November 5 against Florida International at home.