Outing for MSU

Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland inserted Jalen Johnson into the starting lineup for the first time this season on Wednesday night against Central Arkansas.

It turned out to be a good move for the Bulldogs.

Johnson delivered 15 points to the MSU effort against the Central Arkansas Bears in a 81-65 victory at Humphrey Coliseum.

“I wanted to make a good first impression as a starter in front of Bulldog Nation and I think I done that,” Johnson said.

Johnson hit 3-of-8 shots from the field for he Bulldogs with all three coming from 3-point range and he hit all six of hit free throw opportunities.

The performance from Johnson had Howland kicking himself a bit that he hadn’t already put him on the court to start a game already this season.

“He did a good job in the first half of manufacturing points at the foul line,” Howland said. “We were struggling to score and he got fouled twice. He’s got a veteran savvy to him and he just made me look really stupid that I wasn’t starting him earlier because it’s obviously a huge difference for our team offensively to have him spacing the floor for us with his ability to shoot and he gets defensive rebounds.”

MSU scored the first six points of the game on a jumper by D.J. Stewart Jr. and two baskets by Iverson Molinar.

After a basket by Tulo Smith gave the Bulldogs a 8-2 lead, Rylan Bergersen helped the Bears on a run to tie the game at 8-8 with 16 minutes remaining in the first half.

Stewart nailed a 3-point field goal to put MSU back on top 11-8 at the 15:50 mark.

The game was tied three more times in the first half, but Central Arkansas could never get the lead.

A 7-0 run by the Bulldogs put them on top 31-24 with 6:20 left in the first half.

Even though the Bears were able to keep it close, a pull up jumper by Stewart at the buzzer gave MSU a 39-35 advantage at halftime.

State outscored Central Arkansas 42-30 in the second half.

“I thought defensively we did a good job in the second half,” Howland said. “They shot 33% in the second half. We should have had a better lead at halftime, but we had bad turnovers and silly fouls. Again, you could see our youth out there and we’ve got to learn how to finish halves.”

The Bulldogs held their largest lead of 19 points down the stretch after a 3-pointer by Johnson.

Stewart led the MSU scoring effort with 17 points, while Molinar added 14 points and Smith chipped in 10 points. Smith also had 10 rebounds for a double-double.

The Bulldogs shot 29-of61 from the floor and 13-of19 from the free-throw line.

MSU (4-3) will host Mississippi Valley State in its next game on Monday at 7 p.m.