Mississippi State’s guard Peters can really shoot the 3-pointer
STARKVILLE – Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry often has videos go viral of him nailing 90plus percent of his 3-point attempts during any given practice.
It might be time for Mississippi State point guard Lamar Peters to release some of his own.
Head coach Ben Howland said the junior made 137-of-150 shots from beyond the arc Thursday morning.
That’s 91.3 percent for those counting.
Any basketball player knows shooting freely without a defender is infinitely easier than shooting in an actual game, but the way Peters has been shooting recently shouldn’t leave any room for doubt about his alleged performance in practice.
“The hard work is paying off,” Peters said. “I just want to keep going in that direction.”
Peters has made 16-of-24 from three in Mississippi State’s last two games, which were wins over McNeese State and Clemson.
The No. 17 Bulldogs are 8-1 this season, and Peters has much to do with it.
Mississippi State’s toughest test of the season to date is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Humphrey Coliseum.
The Cincinnati Bearcats (9-1) come to town and could pose problems for Peters and company.
“They play a switching-man (defense) and a zone that is basically like man-to-man,” Howland said. “They really are aggressive pressuring the ball. They do a phenomenal job of contesting every shot that you take.”
Cincinnati was No. 1 in the nation last year in opponent field goal percentage on the road. The feel of Saturday’s game will be a lot different than when MSU played Clemson in New Jersey last week.
The Tigers allowed State to shoot from distance, and the Bulldogs responded by drilling a program-record 19 threes.
Peters had eight of them. The Dogs know there won’t be as much room to shoot against Cincy.
Mississippi State shot 30.2 percent from the floor and scored 50 points in last year’s loss to Cincinnati, both of which were season lows.
Peters went 0-11 in total and 0-7 from three.
Much has changed since then, including Peters’ maturity.
Senior forward Aric Holman said it has been interesting to watch Peters grow from the freshman who overslept a game to the junior who is the voice of reason on the roster.
“He’s becoming a man in his own shoes,” Holman said.
“He’s understanding things. He’s working harder than ever. Me and the team are so proud of him right now because of the strides he’s taken over the last two or three years.”
Still, Cincinnati has the nation’s fourth-best scoring defense at 56.4 points per game.
Holman remembers Howland telling him that last year’s game against the Bearcats would be physical. Howland was right.
Holman held up nicely in the slug fest.
He was Mississippi State's best player in a 65-50 loss. He tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds. He made all three of his 3-pointers.
State might need him to shoot efficiently again Saturday to have good fortunes. The Bearcats will be keying in on Peters with knowledge of his recent success.
Holman made five of his eight attempts against Clemson and carries confidence into the Cincinnati game. He knows it will take a lot more than confidence to beat a team of Cincinnati's caliber, though.
“We’re basically playing an upperechelon SEC team,” Holman said. “A team that really wants to win, and they pride off their defense. They come out from the jump and they show it.”
Email Tyler Horka @thorka@jackson.gannett.com and follow Tyler Horka on Twitter