STARKVILLE — Turnovers aren’t a common Achilles’ heel for the Mississippi State men’s basketball team.
The Bulldogs’ average turnover margin per game was just shy of plus-1 prior to Tuesday night, but that number will change after they committed a season-high 22 turnovers in an 87-82 overtime loss to Ole Miss at Humphrey Coliseum.
“I thought the changing of the defenses hurt them a little bit,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. “The 1-3-1 (zone) we adjusted in some ways, sometimes we were trapping more than others. We do have length in certain positions, and I thought we were getting hands on balls. I thought we were confusing them, and that was the whole point.”
MSU senior point guard I.J. Ready — in the midst of one of his best performances of the season — noticed the zone’s impact.
“I think we should’ve been more aggressive attacking the zone like we were toward the end,” Ready said. “We were being conservative because we saw a zone, but when we started going to the basket, getting fouled, and going to the foul line a couple of times, I think that opened up some jump shots for our shooters.”
The strategy proved itself effective in the opening minutes. After two assists by Lamar Peters in the first minute on flashy passes — one of them split two defenders in transition and hit Ready in stride — MSU scored three points in the next four minutes, a stretch that was filled with deflected passes and turnovers.
Ready’s milestones
Ready’s statistical output in the loss — season-high 20 points, five rebounds, five assists, three steals, and a blocked shot — inched him closer to several marks in MSU’s career record book.
His five assists moved his total to 377, which is seventh in school history. His steal tied him for ninth with Winsom Frazier 147.
On a negative note, Ready’s streak of 28 consecutive free throw attempts made ended with a miss in overtime.
Kennedy sees improvement in MSU
When MSU lost to Ole Miss on Jan. 31, it did so in one of its worst defensive performances of the season. The Rebels scored 88 points, a benchmark only two other opponents have hit this season. Howland said earlier in the week it was one of his team’s worst transition defense performances.
Those problems didn’t exist in the rematch, in which MSU held Ole Miss to 67 points in regulation and 24-percent shooting in the first half.
“It seems like ages ago we played them the first time,” Kennedy said. “The first time, I thought we had much better rhythm, we didn’t turn the ball over as much. I thought (MSU) were much more disruptive. I.J. Ready is a huge part of their team.”
Herard’s jersey change
Roughly midway through the first half, MSU forward Schnider Herard exited the game in his No. 34 jersey. He returned after a few minutes wearing No. 54.
Herard seemed to have gotten blood on his jersey, so he had to switch jerseys to continue playing. The No. 54 jersey didn’t have his name on the back.
Herard grabbed two offensive rebounds and earned at least one trip to the free-throw line in his first minutes as No. 54. He had eight points, four rebounds, and a block in 25 minutes.
Wright stays on bench
Freshman guard Eli Wright didn’t play Tuesday.
Earlier this month, Wright played 20-plus minutes against Auburn and South Carolina. He then played 16 minutes against Georgia and eight against Florida before not playing against Ole Miss.
Howland said it was a coach’s decision not to play Wright.
Wright’s decrease in minutes coincides with Ready’s return from an injury. Earlier in the season, though, it was common for Wright to play double-digit minutes when he and Ready were healthy.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter, @Brett_Hudson
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