Shakeel Moore details Mississippi State's offensive success vs. Murray State
For the second straight game and fourth time this season, Mississippi State cracked 80 points or more in their win over Murray State on Wednesday. According to Shakeel Moore, that’s the result of the Bulldogs living in the gym and preparing themselves for game day.
Moore spoke about Mississippi State’s offensive progress during a postgame press conference after their 85-81 victory over the Racers. He said that their practices are made to simulate what a typical matchup feels like. Add in their collective work ethic toward getting more shots up and it all has led to a better output on that end.
“Just working out there in practice,” explained Moore. “Coach gets us to go game speed in practice and simulate game time.”
“Just getting in the gym. We have a lot of guys that’s in there every day, getting up extra shots before and after practice,” Moore said. “It’s just a good thing for us.”
In Chris Jans’ first season in Starkville, the offense was a mess as they scored just 65.4 points per game for one of the nation’s worst averages. Now, in 2023, they’ve improved to the middle of the pack over their first 10 games with an average at 76.4 points, right at 11 points better.
That’s even more significant when you realize that Tolu Smith, the team’s leading scorer from last season, has yet to make an appearance.
It has been a collective effort for Mississippi State and their latest win was no different. Against Murray State, Moore led the way with 16 points. He did so after not missing a shot as he was 5-5 from the field, including 2-2 from distance.
Still, after him, Josh Hubbard (15), Cameron Matthews (13), and DJ Jeffries (11) each scored in double figures. Six of the other eight Bulldogs who played also scored anywhere from three to seven points.
In total, Mississippi State shot a highly-efficient 58.1% from the field. They also offset making only seven threes by making 24 of their 34 attempts (70.6%) at the charity stripe.
This is a game that the Bulldogs may not have won a season ago considering their defense wasn’t up to par of where it usually is. They were still able to secure their eighth victory, though, because of the extra work that Moore says they’ve been doing on that side of the ball.
Jans updates Tolu Smith’s status after foot scan
Mississippi State’s season has had a strong start, even with Tolu Smith on the sidelines due to injury.
Still, Smith is on the mend from an offseason foot injury and the outlook is positive for him to make a return to the floor in short order. He recently received a new scan for doctors to make sure his recovery is going according to plan. By the sound of things, it went fairly well.
“The scan was good. It’s what the doctors wanted to see,” Chris Jans said. “He’ll be released to practice on Friday. Again, it’s part of the journey, part of the process. He’s not going to be out there for two hours going physical contact. But he is going to be released on Friday and we’ll just see how it reacts.”
“He’ll get a little bit of time here, little bit of time there. We’ll start working him into the (mix),” Jans said. “He’ll be contact on Friday. So that’ll be his first day.”