Sophomore guard stepping up for State

When Southeastern Conference play hit last season, D.J. Stewart Jr. gave

Mississippi State a big boost, but there were other players that carried the load down the stretch.

A year later, Robert Woodard, Reggie Perry, Tyson Carter and Nick

Weatherspoon are all gone. Stewart has gone from playing his role to being a critical piece of the Bulldog offense and defense. His 8.5 points a game as a freshman have been boosted to 18.8 in year two and his work on Tuesday night sparked a massive turnaround for MSU in a second half against a top 15 team.

Missouri led by 12 points at the half in Starkville on Tuesday night and Stewart had just four points. He adjusted and took off as he led the Bulldogs to a 78-63 win.

“When I was coming out in the first half, they were clogging the paint,” Stewart said. “In the second half, I felt like I needed to be more patient and shots came open for me. I was kind of zoned out. I knew that we needed a person to step up to fight back and get the dub. I had to lock in and it happened.”

With MSU down by 12 points, Stewart led a barrage of a run with 13-straight points of his own. He brought the Bulldogs all the way back from a 14-point deficit to taking a lead midway through the second half.

When the dust settled, it was a 20-point second half for Stewart. He had 24 points in the game on 10-of-14 shooting, added 4-for-4 from the free-throw line, four assists and three rebounds. Along with him in that second half explosion was Iverson Molinar and he added another 16 points in the second half and 20 points in the game.

This season he’s averaging 18.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists a game. It’s a major jump from the freshman season he had but he’s been up for the challenge of replacing some experienced players.

Tuesday night showed a player poised to take over a game when needed and it wasn’t anything new in MSU head coach Ben Howland’s eyes. Stewart has been an impressive player and person from the time Howland began recruiting him to this point. The sky remains the limit because of the time and effort he puts in to perfect his craft.

“He’s really a great kid with an unbelievable work ethic,” Howland said. “I love how hard he plays and he plays both ends of the floor. I’m playing him a ton of minutes so he’s playing through a lot of fatigue, but I’m really excited for him because he’s worked so hard and he’s enjoying the fruits of his labor. I think he’s going to continue to grow as a player.”