Mississippi State Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Bulldogs

Key reserves

There are quite a few key reserves to keep an eye on off the bench for Mississippi State, making them about a nine-deep squad in 2018-19. 6-foot-4 junior guard Tyson Carter should play the biggest role as their sixth man. He produced 8.9 points per game on 34.1 percent shooting from 3-point range. Carter led the team last season in 3-point makes per game with 1.6 while appearing in all 37 contests (17 starts).

6-foot-10 big man E.J. Datcher is set to earn more playing time after producing 2.2 points and 1.7 rebounds per contest in 2017-18. He appeared in just 7.9 minutes of action in 30 games as a reserve last season.

Junior college transfer and 6-foot-10 forward Jethro Tshisumpa will be a solid player to have off the bench in the frontcourt. He finished third in the NJCAA in blocked shots (116), averaging 8.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.74 blocks per game at San Jacinto College (Texas) this past season.

Reggie Perry is one big name player to watch in the SEC. Perry was a member of this year’s McDonald’s All-American class and ranked 31st overall in the 2018 recruiting class. He’s poised to lead another strong freshmen class for the Bulldogs.

6-foot-7 guard Robert Woodard is the other freshman to watch. He’s a Mississippi native that ranked 63rd overall in the 2018 recruiting class. The other Mississippi native in their highly-ranked recruiting class is 6-foot-6 guard D.J. Stewart. Stewart is a four-star prospect that ranked 117th overall in the 2018 class. Their ceiling for playing time will be as high as their ability to be efficient 3-point shooters.