STARKVILLE — Vic Schaefer took a deep breath and began to slowly bang his forehead against the microphone placed before him.
Thrice knocking his noggin into the audio device, Schaefer’s melodramatic act was in response to a question regarding how he’s responded to his young team’s lack of energy this season — most notably in Sunday’s 73-62 loss to Kentucky in Lexington.
“It’s really frustrating,” he said. “You’re over there trying to find something, a combination. I tried to give them some energy with myself on the sideline, but it’s really frustrating to be honest with you and it doesn’t happen very often. You lean on your experience of 35 years of coaching and you try everything — which I did.”
For Schaefer, moments and questions like this have persisted throughout the 2020 campaign. Replacing three starters from last year’s Elite Eight squad was a tall task in itself. Welcoming a four-player freshman class to expedite that process made it even tougher.
Despite that, it was Schaefer’s freshman that flanked him at Tuesday’s mid-week media availability.
“Proud of these kids and proud of this freshman class,” Schaefer said in his opening statement. “Proud of my entire team to be 22-4 and 10-2 in the league, I just couldn’t be more proud of them. A season can be a long hard grind in the SEC and these kids have competed and played their hearts out.”
While the freshman class has been an enigma for months, recent weeks have shown an uptick in production from a group that continues to puzzle its eighth year head coach as much as it offers him solace in the future of his program.
First year guard Rickea Jackson is a prime example of Schaefer’s ongoing battle with his youthful contingent of playmakers. A five-star recruit and the first ever McDonald’s All-American to sign with MSU, Jackson leads all SEC Freshman in scoring and sits ninth overall in the conference at 14.3 points per game.
That said, the former blue-chipper’s rebounding production continues to be a work in progress. Sunday against Kentucky, Jackson reeled in seven rebounds — moving her per game average up to 4.8 per game. And while the outing was encouraging, she’s adamant her numbers can be higher.
“I know that I can get more,” Jackson said Tuesday. “Even last game I only had seven, I could have gotten 11 if I actually would have pursued the ball, but it’s definitely good to see that I’m actively rebounding more because that’s what coach Schaefer wants.”
Freshman guard Aliyah Matharu has been similarly perplexing. A gunner off the bench, Matharu provided instant offense in double-digit outings against Vanderbilt, No. 1 South Carolina and Ole Miss.
And while her offensive game shows flashes of a potential playmaker down the stretch this season and into the future, she’s played eight minutes or less in 10 of MSU’s past 12 games as she continues to find a calmer side to her gunner mentality.
“Every night is a different ballgame,” Matharu said of playing in the SEC. “Every night is tough and I just want to be tough in and out every night, every game.”
The other members of the freshman class — guards Jayla Hemingway and JaMya Mingo-Young — have also had their moments. Mingo-Young scored a crucial 14 points that kept MSU within striking distance against South Carolina Jan. 20, while Hemingway’s defense and rebounding ability down the stretch helped the Bulldogs to a win over No. 16 Texas A&M just over a week ago.
“One of the things that I’ve kind of learned is that I know when we need to get stops and we need to go to the boards and get rebounds and when to attack and when to draw it back out and just be solid” Hemingway said Tuesday. “If it’s broke, fix it and if it’s not broke keep it (working).”
Thursday, MSU heads to Auburn for the first of its final four games of the year. And while the Bulldog freshman continue to find their footing as their inaugural season in Starkville nears its completion, Schaefer remains confident the quartet that surrounded him Tuesday can help this year’s squad to postseason success.
“Our message to them is ‘Hey, if we do things the right way like we’ve been doing the last few years we’ve still got a month and a half left in the season and that’s a real important time for us,'” Schaefer said.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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