STARKVILLE
Set the alarm clock for a nap Tuesday afternoon.
Get a bowl for microwave or white cheddar cheese popcorn and your favorite beverage ready.
Don’t get too comfortable, though, because you want to be able to stay awake for all of the No. 4 Mississippi State women’s basketball team’s game against No. 7 Oregon. The game tips off at 9 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN2) in Eugene, Oregon.
The matchup features the nation’s top two scoring teams (Oregon averages 92.4 points per game; MSU 92.3). Oregon also leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.93) — a category that is near and dear to MSU coach Vic Schaefer’s heart — and is second in turnovers per game (10.8). MSU will try to combat those areas of strength with the nation’s fourth-best scoring defense (50.3 ppg.) and the No. 1 scoring margin (42 ppg.).
Let’s not forget Oregon (8-1) is second nationally in field goal percentage (52.4) and MSU is fifth (51.5).
So will this one be one of those old last-team-with-the-ball-wins games?
MSU (10-0) isn’t going to see many players better than Oregon junior guard Sabrina Ionescu or junior forward Ruthy Hebard. Ionescu, a preseason All-American by The Associated Press, needs one more triple-double to break the NCAA overall career record (12, Kyle Collinsworth, BYU). She is the only player in the NCAA averaging 18-plus points, eight-plus rebounds, and eight-plus assists per game. She has five double-doubles. Hebard is sixth in the NCAA, shooting 68.8 percent from the field. She has three double-doubles.
As they did last season, all five of Oregon’s starters are averaging more than 10 ppg., led by Ionescu’s 20.1 ppg.
Oregon isn’t going to see many players more dominating than 6-foot-7 senior center Teaira McCowan, who has scored in double figures in 16-straight games dating back to last season. She has 10 games in which she has scored 20 or more points. The two-time Southeastern Conference Player of the Week is averaging 19.8 ppg. and 11.9 rebounds per game and is shooting 74.7 percent from the field in the last seven games.
Senior point guard Jazzmun Holmes is playing at nearly as high a level as McCowan. Holmes leads the nation with a 6.1 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Bulldogs have the fifth-best assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5) in the nation.
In the last three games, Holmes is averaging 14.3 points, 7.0 assists, and 2.3 steals. She has only three turnovers in that stretch, and is shooting 50 percent from the field.
There are more numbers like this on both sides. Beth Mowins, Debbie Antonelli, and Holly Rowe will be ready to give them all to you. It’s great to see the best college basketball has to offer set to call the game.
There should be plenty of adrenaline and a packed house at the Matthew Knight Arena. The atmosphere should be similar to the one the Ducks faced last season in a 90-79 loss on Dec. 13, 2017, in Starkville.
The question will be which team responds to adversity. Schaefer likes to say his team has to punch first and be the aggressor. The Bulldogs have played that role most of the season. They also showed a willingness and a knack to respond when things didn’t go their way against Marquette. The back-and-forth nature of MSU’s 87-82 victory on Dec. 6 in Starkville could offer a glimpse into how the game against Oregon will play out.
You’re not going to find any predictions here. My guess is Schaefer will have the Bulldogs ready to play. Graduate transfer Anriel Howard should have extra motivation. Last season, Howard was a member of the Texas A&M women’s basketball team that lost twice to Oregon — once in November in College Station, Texas, and a second time in December in Las Vegas. Hebard had 24 points in the first meeting. Ionescu had a triple-double. Maite Cazorla had 26 points in the second game. Ionescu had 25.
“I remember they were very fast and they came out ready to play both games that we played them,” Howard said. “Their post players were really good. Of course their guards were really good as well. They played really well together. They all had chemistry. We weren’t ready to play. I am excited to play them.”
When asked what she thought it would be like to face nearly the same Oregon team with a new set of teammates that is trying to find its identity, Howard feels the Bulldogs match up well with the Ducks.
“I feel we have all the pieces we need,” Howard said. “We just have to be able to come out there ready to play and we need to listen to our coaches. They will give us what we need. It is just a matter of us executing what we’re supposed to do. I think if we do that and be ready we will be good.”
Adam Minichino is sports editor of The Dispatch. You can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ctsportseditor.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.