STARKVILLE — Tyson Carter is still learning how to be an efficient point guard.
Mississippi State’s lone senior torched Florida International with 23 points and made 5 of 9 3-pointers in Friday’s 77-69 season-opening win at Humphrey Coliseum.
But in his 34 minutes of action, he also committed eight turnovers, some he attributed to mental mistakes resulting from fatigue. In all, MSU shot 54.4 percent from the floor but gave away the ball 18 times.
“We just have to do a better job taking care of the ball,” Carter said.
Carter, typically a shooting guard, is playing out of position at point guard because of teammate Nick Weatherspoon’s 10-game suspension to start the year. And at least the mistakes came in a win.
“We’re asking Tyson to do so much,” MSU coach Ben Howland said. “Without Nick out there, he’s our one experienced guard. He’s delivered. He shot the ball well and played an extreme amount of minutes.”
Some turnovers were inevitable considering the style the Panthers play. MSU spent the days leading into its season opener preparing for a hardwood track meet, knowing full well the Panthers finished with the highest adjusted-tempo last season according to KenPom.com. FIU came into Starkville hoping to create chaos with their fast pace, and for a good portion of the night, it worked.
The run-and-gun Panthers disoriented Mississippi State’s offensive sets, forcing as many turnovers as shots allowed (seven) in the first nine minutes.
“That’s who we are. It’s what we do; it’s our identity,” FIU coach Jeremy Ballard said.
Alas, their strategy had its downfall, as the Florida-based school played too loose with the ball and committed 17 turnovers, 12 coming in the first half.
“I thought our defense in the halfcourt was good,” Howland said. “Where they hurt us was off of turnovers scoring easily and long rebounds given up.”
MSU took a 40-30 lead into halftime, highlighted by Carter connecting with Robert Woodard II on a thunderous alley-oop.
The good feelings didn’t last long, as a 12-0 FIU run tied the game at 44 apiece with 15 minutes remaining. But Reggie Perry took over down the stretch.
The preseason first-team All-SEC selection was limited to a single point in the first half but scored 12 second-half points to give the Bulldogs separation. The Thomasville, Georgia, native also had seven rebounds, three assists (two coming on fast breaks) and two blocks.
Making his collegiate debut at the two spot, highly touted freshman Iverson Molinar recorded 14 points and two assists. MSU shot 5 of 14 from beyond the arc (all makes coming from Carter) and out-rebounded FIU 36-28.
“We got a little tired at the end,” Howland said. “I have to do a better job utilizing Prince (Oduro) in more minutes than I did today. That’s something I’ll work on for Friday.”
Conference USA preseason first-team selection Devon Andrews led FIU in scoring with 16 points. Trejon Jacob (13), Eric Lovett (11) and Osasumwen Osaghae (10) also finished in double figures for the Panthers.
MSU is back in action against Sam Houston State at 7 p.m. Friday at Humphrey Coliseum.
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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