STARKVILLE — Fred Thomas is trying to harken back to the days where he seemingly was an unstoppable scoring force in the state of Mississippi.
So far, Mississippi State freshman point guard IJ Ready’s plan is working.
Ready’s new nickname for Thomas — “Jim Hill” — is designed to give the 6-foot-5 swingman a confidence boost.
“I call him ‘Jim Hill’ to remind him of how great a player he was back in high school,” Ready said Monday in reference to Thomas’ high school in Jackson. “You wouldn’t even think his name is Fred anymore with the amount of times I call him Jim Hill.”
Ready hopes the new nickname helps Thomas re-discover a scoring touch that helped him average 20 points per game in high school. It apparently worked Saturday, as Thomas scored the Bulldogs’ first 10 points against Vanderbilt. Thomas finished 6 of 10 from the field and scored a team-high 16 points in a 55-49 loss in Nashville, Tenn.
Thomas had three perfect jump shots in rhythm, including two off passes from Ready. The 16-point outing was Thomas’ second double-figure scoring effort away from Humphrey Coliseum, and was two days removed from a scoreless showing against then-No. 3 Florida in Starkville.
“We need Fred to be a good basketball player for us consistently because he’s going to play a lot of minutes,” MSU coach Rick Ray said. “He’s become our best perimeter defender because of his length, so it’s important for him to have a flow to him.”
The 10 points in the first eight minutes against Vanderbilt could be the motivation Thomas needs to find the scoring touch that has lost its focus. Thomas has been held to three baskets or less in 15 of the team’s first 21 games. He will try to correct that at 8 tonight (CSS) when MSU (13-8, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) plays at Texas A&M (12-9, 3-5).
Ray has been on Thomas about not carrying his struggles on offense to defense. This season, the Jackson native is shooting 34.9 percent from the field and is averaging 8.4 points per game, which is fifth on the team. Last season as a freshman, Thomas shot 32.8 percent from the field and was third on the team in scoring (9.7 ppg.).
“I don’t think we have the ebb and flow of his game and emotion like we had last year,” Ray said. “I thought with Fred last year we got extreme highs and extreme lows, and now he understands you have to be more even keeled.”
Shot selection hasn’t been Thomas’ problem. A year ago, he finished second all-time among MSU freshmen with 172 attempted 3-pointers (41 makes, 23.8 percent). This season, even though Thomas is 28 of 89 (31.5 percent) from 3-point range, he is passing up apparently wide-open perimeter shots.
“I want Fred to be playing with some excitement and some exuberance even when he’s not scoring,” Ray said. “I want him to be flying around regardless of the situation or how he’s doing offensively. We’ve talked about that type of demeanor a lot this season. The scoring will come.”
Thomas lost his starting small forward position to Dre Applewhite in a six-game period in the middle of the season. However, Applewhite announced he was going to transfer from MSU following the end of the first semester. The news helped Thomas regain his starting spot.
Before arriving at MSU, Thomas was seen as a scoring machine after leading Jim Hill High to a 24-11 ledger and the Class 6A state title with a 76-74 overtime win against Tupelo. In the championship game, Thomas scored a game-high 24 points and hit the winning 3-pointer. Thomas scored in double-digits in 34 of his 35 games, and he had 20-plus points 18 times in route to being named to the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic roster.
“We tell Fred to just go out there and have fun, and that really seemed to get him started at Vanderbilt,” Ready said. “He needs to sometimes just keep it loose and fun out there and let his talent show.”
MSU hopes Thomas can deliver as it tries to snap a three-game losing streak against a team that has lost five in a row. Texas A&M’s skid began last month in Starkville, when MSU rallied for an 81-72 overtime victory at Humphrey Coliseum.
“We got to believe and depend on each other more because there’s times we don’t do that 100 percent like other teams that win on the road,” Ready said.
Follow Matt Stevens on Twitter @matthewcstevens.
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