Mississippi State Basketball: Keys to taking down Liberty in the first round

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 21: Lamar Peters #2 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs calls a play as he carries the ball against the Saint Mary's Gaels during the second half of a game in the MGM Resorts Main Event basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on November 21, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mississippi State won 61-57. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) /

4 of 4

DAYTON, OH – NOVEMBER 30: Quinndary Weatherspoon #11 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs drives to the basket against Dwayne Cohill #35 of the Dayton Flyers in the second half of the game at UD Arena on November 30, 2018 in Dayton, Ohio. The Bulldogs won 65-58. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

3. Tire out the Liberty big men on defense

The last big key for Mississippi State in this game is to attack the big men of Liberty on the defensive end and make them work. Doing this does a couple of things for the Bulldogs. It allows them to tire out James on the defensive end, making him less effective on offense. It also them to get possibly get the Flames’ two big men, James, and Myo Baxter-Bell into foul trouble.

Making the big men work on the defensive end doesn’t mean just pounding the ball inside and have them defend on the block. Mississippi State should also try and bring them out on the perimeter forcing them to defend pick-and-rolls and decide what to do with mismatches on the perimeter because that would allow the Bulldogs’ guards to go by them and get to the rim.

dark. Next. Ranking all 68 teams in the Big Dance

One of the areas Liberty struggles defensively as a team is defending the pick-and-roll and one-on-one defense in the post, which means guys like Aric Holman and Reggie Perry should park themselves in the paint for Mississippi State and take advantage of that Liberty liability. If Howland’s team can live in the paint and force James and Baxter-Bell to work twice as hard, the team from the SEC should live to see another day.

Home/Mississippi State Bulldogs