Bulldogs play Commodores in SEC outing

Mississippi State’s Abdul Ado did his best Rodney Dangerfield impersonation following Tuesday’s big win at home over Missouri.

Ado said the Bulldogs are motivated by those outside the program who don’t give them enough respect.

After getting picked to finish 12th in the Southeastern Conference in the preseason, Ado took it personally and believes MSU should have been placed way above that.

“We are very underrated,” Ado said. “No matter what we do and no matter the progress we’ve made, we just don’t get the credit we deserve. That’s how I feel. Since I’ve been here, we’ve always had to prove people wrong. It’s nothing new to us and we love that because we get to prove people wrong. We’ve got to show people how much we’ve worked. We’ve shed blood and tears for this.

“We love the hate. They can put us at 12. It doesn’t matter. It’s how we respond. We’re just going to come out here and take care of business.”

State men’s coach Ben

Howland is glad that his senior voiced his opinion.

If the perceived disrespect raises the level of play for Ado and the other Bulldogs, then Howland wants them to use that to their advantage.

“We are always at a point where we’re trying to prove ourselves and trying to prove naysayers and doubters wrong,” Howland said. “If he thinks like that, I want him to continue to think like that.”

MSU’S next game takes place at Vanderbilt today. The Commodores can be a difficult opponent, especially in Nashville, Tennessee.

Vanderbilt may only be 4-4 overall and have lost its first two SEC games, but it pushed Kentucky in a 77-74 road loss on Tuesday night.

“I thought they had a great chance to win at Rupp Arena the other night,” Howland said. “They played the game right before we played Missouri and I watched the game in its entirety (Wednesday) and I was really impressed with Vanderbilt, especially offensively how they spread the floor. They have so many guys who can shoot the 3.”

The noon tip will be a matchup of the No. 2 and No. 3 scorers in the league with Scotty Pippen Jr. of the Commodores at 22 points per game and State’s D.J. Stewart Jr. at 18.8 points.

After the Missouri victory, the Bulldogs (7-4) are tied with three other teams with 2-1 SEC records.

Ado doesn’t take any conference games for granted and said MSU must build on the momentum it established on Tuesday night.

“No matter what, you have to come in and play harder than the other team,” Ado said “You have to play two times or three times harder than the other team.”