STARKVILLE — Mississippi State went into conference play last year with little margin for error. A non-conference schedule ranking 345th in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy left MSU in need of an epic run through an improving Southeastern Conference men’s basketball slate to make the NCAA tournament.
It came close, but ultimately fell short. MSU coach Ben Howland was determined to do more in the non-conference this year, and he wasted no time in making that a reality.
No. 18 MSU (1-0) opened its season with a 95-67 win over Austin Peay, a potential Ohio Valley Conference champion, and immediately turns to Hartford (0-2), which holds the same status in the America East Conference. MSU’s second game in three days (4 p.m. Sunday, SEC Network) is followed by a home game against Big West contender Long Beach State before a trip to Las Vegas for the MGM Resorts Main Event. MSU will face Arizona State and either Saint Mary’s or Utah State.
“Getting ready for the gauntlet here as we get ready to play five games in 13 days,” Howland said. “That was by design. We don’t have any easy games, per say.”
Before the non-conference slate is over, MSU will play at least four games against teams currently in KenPom’s top 50: Arizona State, Clemson, Cincinnati and BYU, two of those games on neutral courts. Howland joked it was, “stupid of him,” to play Dayton on the road this year; MSU is also welcoming Wofford to Humphrey Coliseum on Dec. 19, a team that beat North Carolina on the road last year.
Paired with yet another brutal SEC schedule, Howland believes the best roster he has had in his years at MSU is getting plenty of opportunity to prove itself.
“You look at our league schedule, they really loaded us up with the two crossover games are Auburn and Kentucky, playing each of them twice because there’s the expectation that we’re going to be a good team by the conference,” Howland said. “Our league is such a monster, it’s incredible. You look at it and say, ‘Where’s your breather?’ There is no breather.”
No one on the roster is blinking at the challenge. Senior guard Quinndary Weatherspoon said practice sessions revealed this was, “the most competitive team I’ve seen I’m my time here.”
For Weatherspoon and his fellow senior, Aric Holman, schedules like this are why they came to MSU.
“Coming out of high school, we came from winning programs,” Holman said. “We had our heads high when we first got here and we told ourselves we wanted to get this program back on top. That’s why we sacrificed, stayed all four years, we love our teammates and want to go out with a bang.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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