Oscar Tshiebwe likely will see a Mississippi State defense geared to protect the paint Wednesday night. (Vicky Graff Photo)
It might not be a Super Bowl-like atmosphere at Mississippi State Wednesday night but Kentucky is going to face a far more hostile atmosphere than it did Saturday when it lost at Georgia.
Mississippi State has won five straight games — four of the wins came in Southeastern Conference play — and got a Quadrant 1 win at Arkansas Saturday after the Razorbacks had blitzed UK in their previous game.
The Bulldogs now feel they are on the NCAA Tournament bubble despite losing eight of nine games to open SEC play. State is 17-8 overall and 5-7 in SEC play compared to 19-6, 7-5 for Kentucky.
First-year State coach Chris Janes said “every game is a big game” and was already asking State fans to be at Wednesday’s game as soon as the Arkansas game ended.
“That’s just the reality of the situation, but it’s Kentucky and they got beat today,” Janes said Saturday. “We’re going to take everything they’ve got and then some. I wasn’t happy about it (UK’s loss) today, but I can’t have any control over it.
“We need the Hump to rock. If you can’t make it and you’re a season ticket holder, please try to find a way to get people in your seats. If you need help, please email us or call us. We’ll do our darndest to create an environment because it’s a heck of an opportunity for us.”
Mississippi State had a 16-point lead at Arkansas before holding on to win 70-64. The Bulldogs led for 35 minutes.
Oscar Tshiebwe better be prepared to have a lot of company in the paint based on State’s play at Arkansas.
“We wanted to protect the paint at all costs. They haven’t been shooting it great from 3. They were 4-for-18 tonight. We wanted to keep the ball out of the paint as much as possible,” Janes said.
“We guarded our own men. We didn’t switch for the first 35 minutes of the game. The last five, we went to switching all the ball screens.
“In the post, we trapped like we normally do, even though they aren’t great scorers down there. We thought it was an opportunity to get our defense revved and turn them over. We planned to play more zone, but we felt like our defense settled in. So, we didn’t do that.”
2 Responses
Bring onion in , 7ft ..his height never changes ..bring Oscar out , high low.. if a 7 fter doesn’t have a baby hook/ flip around the hoop I don’t know what to say.
This is ridiculous.. Oscar God bless him is no 6’9" as I’ve had the awesome opportunity to stand next to him and I’m 6’4" he’s not 5 inches taller..he’s 6’7. He’s not a center. Obviously. Get the onion in and play him on bigs.. cal saw fit to.play him against a skilled , big man in Dickinson for Michigan, and doesn’t hardly play anymore? I guarantee, there aren’t many skilled guys uk will play against such as Dickinson..