Bulldogs sweep SEC Player of the Week awards
Mississippi State’s basketball programs collected huge wins last week away from Humphrey Coliseum. On Tuesday, a couple of Bulldogs were rewarded for their efforts in those victories.
For head coach Chris Jans and his squad, senior center Jimmy Bell was tabbed the SEC Player of the Week for his showing in Mississippi State’s 70-60 neutral-site win over Rutgers. Bell collected a season-high 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds in the win and was named the Gotham Classic Game MVP.
The former West Virginia transfer becomes State’s first SEC Player of the Week honoree this season although Josh Hubbard has claimed SEC Freshman of the Week honors this season. Tolu Smith captured SEC Player of the Week honors twice last season.
“I can’t imagine where we’d be without it [Bell Jr.’s production],” Jans said following Saturday’s win over Rutgers. “Jimmy came in knowing that Tolu was coming back. He had a lot of confidence in himself. Certainly, no one could have predicted that he would be in this position with playing a bigger role and more minutes than he’s used to. He’s really gotten himself in really good shape. Certainly, we’re all excited about the idea of Tolu rejoining this team, but I don’t know where we’d be without him [Bell Jr.].”
With his outing against Rutgers, Bell is the first SEC player to notch at least 15 points and 15 rebounds in a game this season.
On the women’s side, senior Lauren Park-Lane collected the SEC Player of the Week award following a 33-point performance in State’s 82-75 win at Colorado State. It was the second straight week for a Bulldog to claim the award after Jessika Carter earned SEC Co-Player of the Week honors last week.
“It is unbelievable, she is so special,” said head coach Sam Purcell following Park-Lane’s latest outing. “If you aren’t talking about Lauren Park-Lane across the country you are missing out. I am always say talk to us nice, but they better be talking nice about Lauren Park-Lane because this is a special player who came here and made sacrifices. I could not be a more proud coach.”
In that 33-point outburst, Park-Lane drilled a school-record 10 three-pointers, the most a Mississippi State player, women’s and men’s. The former Seton Hall transfer is also just the third player in SEC women’s basketball history to sink 10 or more three-pointers in a game.
Jans and company return to action Sunday against Bethune-Cookman in a 2 p.m. tipoff at Humphrey Coliseum while the women host Mississippi Valley State Friday for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff. Both programs open the SEC slates next week.
