STARKVILLE — Mississippi State freshman point guard IJ Ready missed his seventh game of the 2013-14 season due to injury or illness Saturday.
Ready was forced out of MSU’s 69-59 loss to No. 18 Kentucky due a elevated fever and flu-like symptoms. The 5-foot-11 point guard was ruled out of the game right before tip and left the Bulldogs with just seven scholarship players for the matchup.
“I don’t know if it was the flu or not but he had a fever and it didn’t come down enough for him to be able to go today,” Ray said. “It started when we got back from A&M and he didn’t practice Friday because of it.”
Ready, who is averaging 6.4 points and 3.1 assists per game, missed four games early in November with a severely strained hamstring and then sat for two more games with a concussion.
MSU leading scorer Craig Sword, who had 12 points in the loss Saturday, said the game plan didn’t change with Bloodman running the offense but it forced Sword to generate more point guard action in a similar fashion to last year’s depth problem.
In the 85-63 loss at Kentucky on Jan. 8, Ready went scoreless in 18 minutes but did provide two assists.
Ready’s replacement in the starting lineup Saturday was junior guard Trivante Bloodman and in his ninth start of the season he had a team-high 12 points in 32 minutes. The transfer from Olney (Ill.) Central College was 6 of 6 from the foul one and had three assists.
“I think Trivante is somebody that is always going to give us a solid effort and what I thought he did well was finding those holes to drive,” Ray said.
n Calipari praised Rick Ray for his 2013-14 coaching performance: In Saturday’s post-game media conference, the first words out of the mouth of Kentucky coach John Calipari were in praise of his coaching counterpart on the other bench.
“I want to say that Rick Ray is doing a Yeoman’s job here,” Calipari said. “His point guard is out and he’s got depth issues and his guys get in early foul trouble and he still has a chance to beat us late in the game.”
After the win Saturday, Calipari is 8-0 against Mississippi State and 3-0 against Ray but said he likes what he sees out of the effort level of his MSU team during the 2013-14 campaign.
“I look a coach and I try to see what kind of effort his kids show and his kids are playing hard that’s for sure,” Calipari said. “And they’re playing hard for him.”
MSU, who was just playing with two post players and seven scholarship players, was able to disrupt Kentucky’s offense with their suffocating half court defense that held every Wildcats starter below its season scoring average.
“We knew this would be a tough place to go play and they had a very good record here at home for a reason so we were happy to get out here with a win,” Kentucky center Dakari Johnson said.
n Ray looks at upcoming stretch as critical for MSU: The MSU coaching staff now look fondly at a final eight-game stretch to the 2013-14 season where they don’t play another team in the Top 50 of the latest ratings percentage index.
The Bulldogs will have another chance to win its 400th all-time win at Humphrey Coliseum when they host Georgia at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Ray stressed after the loss to No. 18 Kentucky that his team needs to look past this season-long stretch of five straight losses to ensure a over .500 record.
“We were a man down and we did this today, so we knew we were in a tough stretch here but if we play with type of enthusiasm and competitiveness, we can beat anybody,” Ray said.
MSU will have four games on the road and ending the program’s 14-game losing streak away from Starkville is a must to get this season turned back around to the positive vibes of middle January.
“First and foremost, they’re kids,” Ray said to the explanation of the team’s road woes. “We’re talking about freshman and sophomores that are our leaders. It’s human nature to see this progression.”
Follow Matt Stevens on Twitter @matthewcstevens.
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