Bulldogs handle zone to beat Delta Devils

There was more zone defense from the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils than what Mississippi State head men's basketball coach Chris Jans expected to see on Saturday afternoon at Humphrey Coliseum.

Jans knew that the Delta Devils had the ability to play zone, but thought it would be used for about half of the game.

Instead, Mississippi Valley State stayed in the zone pretty much the entire way and MSU adjusted well to secure an easy 82-52 victory.

The Bulldogs, who improved to 8-0, made 31-of-65 shots from the field for 47.7%, including 6-of-19 from 3-point land for 31.6%.

“I knew we would get a heavy dose of zone,”jans said. “I thought it would be 50-50, but it ended up being 100% per possession and that can be a drag at times, but it was so good for us to play against zone. We haven't seen a lot of zone so it was good to get live reps against the zone. We certainly do it in practice, but you can't make that up.

It's a different feeling in the game and I thought we did a pretty good job. When we called a set, our point guards were doing a good job getting them organized. We got the shots we were looking for and didn't settle.”

MSU got off to a little bit of a slow start offensively with only 21 points in the first 10 minutes. It began to heat up as the game progressed.

A 3-point field goal by D.J. Jeffries gave the Bulldogs a 10-point lead at 26-16 with 6:35 remaining in the first half.

After free throws by Jeffries and Kimani Hamilton put MSU up 33-20 at the 4-minute mark, a pair of baskets by Tolu Smith down the stretch gave the Bulldogs a 36-20 advantage at the halftime intermission.

MSU outscored the Delta Devils 44-30 in the second half to take control.

Smith was active around the basket against the zone and led the Bulldogs with 24 points.

“Even though they were playing zone, we didn't give up on Tolu or Will (Mcnair Jr.) around the basket,” Jans said. “It's hard to double team in the zone. (Smith) probably felt like he had enough space. I was a

Mississippi State’s Tolu Smith, right, Eric Reed Jr. (11) and Tyler Stevenson, left, try to get position for a rebound against Mississippi Valley State’s Alvin Stredic on Saturday at Humphrey Coliseum. (Photo by Danny P. Smith, SDN)

little disappointed with him early because I felt he was begging for fouls rather than just going in there and finishing the play. Obviously, he only missed four shots, but the majority of

them were early in the game, but it was good for him to feel good and get some touches.”

MSU has yet to allow an opponent to score more than 55 points in a game this season.

Jeffries, who also scored in double figures for the Bulldogs with 12 points, thought the defensive effort was an improvement from the Omaha game last Monday.

“We had more ball pressure and did what coach wanted us to do,” Jeffries said.

MSU will play at Minnesota next on Sunday, December 11.