Kentucky Wildcat Basketball Preview – Know Your Enemy: Mississippi State Bulldogs
By Paul Jordan
GAME 25
FEBRUARY 15, 2011 – 7:00 PM
MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS (13-11) (5-5)
RUPP ARENA – LEXINGTON, KY
TV – ESPN
SERIES HISTORY
KENTUCKY LEADS 79-18
RECENT GAMES:
3/14/2010: KENTUCKY 75 Mississippi State 74 OT*
2/16/2010: KENTUCKY 81 Mississippi State 75 OT
2/3/2009: Mississippi State 66 KENTUCKY 57
1/15/2008: Mississippi State 69 KENTUCKY 64
3/9/2007: Mississippi State 84 KENTUCKY 82 OT*
* SEC TOURNAMENT
Over the past few years, the Mississippi State/Kentucky rivalry has been one of the most tightly contested rivalries on Kentucky’s schedule. Last year alone, Kentucky won two overtime classic games and three of the last five games in the series have gone into overtime. Last year’s Kentucky’s wins snapped a three game Bulldog winning streak and the Bulldogs won their last trip to Rupp, in 2009. The previous Bulldog win at Rupp was in 1995.
Both teams have changed immensely since last year as Kentucky has virtually a brand new team, and the Bulldogs have some of the old names, but have been the SEC’s version of “Team Turmoil” for 2010-11. The good news is that the Bulldogs are not a good road team this year and have dropped three of four road games, including a 65-62 loss to woeful Auburn on Saturday. Kentucky needs to win out the rest of the season and still needs some help to grab the number two seed in the SEC Tournament. It all starts with the Bulldogs and it appears that the Bulldogs may be what the doctor ordered.
THE STARTERS
#3 – G – DEE BOST, JR 6’2 176
17.7 ppg, 5.2 apg, 3.8 rpg
#15 – G – RILEY BENOCK, SR 6’4 193
7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.1 apg
#3 – G – RAVERN JOHNSON, SR 6’7 175
17 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 0.7 apg
#1 – F- RENARDO SIDNEY, SO 6’10 275
13.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 0.6 apg
#24 – F – KODI AUGUSTUS, SR 6’8 224
11.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.8 apg
BACK COURT
Dee Bost is playing magnificently since returning from his NCAA mandated half season suspension for not pulling his name out of the NBA Draft by the deadline. And in a small part, the return of Bost to the court may have led to the subsequent transfer to Kentucky of Twany Beckham. Bost gets a lot of his points from 3-pointers and he is hitting them at a 37% clip. He takes a lot of shots from long range, averaging 7.3 attempts a game, but Bost can score from all over the court. It’s important to guard Bost tight because he dishes the ball well to the big men, but he can also be harassed into a lot of turnovers. Bost can create turnovers as well and gets a good bit of steals. Above everything else, Kentucky wants to make sure that Riley Benock is not an unlikely hero. Benock exists almost solely to launch threes and he is hitting 44% All but 22 of his shot attempts have been treys and we need to point out that Benock is a Kentucky boy, from Battleton. This will be his first chance to play meaningful minutes at Rupp as a Bulldog and Kentucky needs to smash any hopes of a fairytale return. Benock has benefited from wide open looks due to dribble penetration, so he can not be left open. Ravern Johnson is another deadly outside threat for the Bulldogs, hitting 34.6%, but Johnson has never seen a shot attempt he does not like and could rack up double digit trey attempts. He is however, the type of streak shooter that can drill three or four treys in a row to break open a close game. The challenge is to keep a hand in his face and prevent that. Johnson can score from all over, but prefers the outside. He has a good game rebounding every once in a while, but his main goal is to score. Brian Bryant does not shoot a lot of treys but is hitting about 38% of them. He is a pretty solid bench player as he averages 5.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and a couple of assists in about 20 minutes a game. He does have a 22 point game on the season, but his production has gone down with the return of Bost. Freshman Jalen Steele will come off the bench and attempt a lot of treys, but he is not especially proficient, at 27.9%. He is averaging 5.3 points and 1.4 rebounds a game.
FRONT COURT
There are signs that Renardo Sidney is finally becoming to play up to his potential as he has double doubles in two of his last three games and he missed a third by just a point. Sidney of course, missed all of last season due to NCAA questions over his eligibility and missed the first nine games this year. After a game back, he got in a fight with a teammate and was suspended the next game, so its been a bumpy road. For much of this season, he has seemed disinterested and been out of shape, but there will be a lot of NBA scouts in Rupp, and some to see him. For his size, he does not block a lot of shots and he has a tendency to get into foul trouble and to turn the ball over a good bit. The return of Sidney has affected the play of Kodi Augustus. Augustus had six double doubles during Sidney’s suspension, but just one after his return. If other teams pay too much attention to Sidney, Augustus will make them pay. He is a pretty solid scorer, and takes the
occasional trey, and he likes to battle on the boards. Like Sidney, he can get into foul trouble as well. He is not much of a ball handler other and also turns the ball over a lot. 6’8 center Wendell Lewis averages 3.7 points per game and 3.8 boards a game in about 15 minutes. He is good at scoring near the basket, hitting 59.4%, but is not an aggressive rebounder.
OUTLOOK
The Bulldogs, despite their record, can be a dangerous team for Kentucky. Johnson and Bost are going to be difficult to cover and the key is to keep this team from going crazy from beyond the 3-point line. The Bulldogs are averaging 22 attempts a game and hitting 34% of them. Kentucky won both games last year and gave up 10 threes a game. I would say that if Kentucky can limit the made treys to single digits, they should win easily.
The Bulldogs do have flaws obviously rather than the chemistry problems. They turn the ball over almost 14 times a game and they do not get a lot of offensive rebounds, which means Kentucky will force a lot of one shot possessions from the Bulldogs. If Kentucky can keep up the defensive pressure and put the Bulldogs near their average in turnovers and hit the boards hard, they should have a win as well.
In summary, the Bulldogs have a lot of good individuals playing as individuals and are not playing team basketball. If Kentucky can play good team defense and get good shots against the Bulldogs, they should be able to exploit MSU’s weaknesses and win without a lot of drama. Kentucky knows they have to make a run and get back to fundamentals and play as one. It has to start with this game. Kentucky 81, Mississippi State 69.
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