Mississippi State guard Trey Fort leaves game vs. Northwestern with apparent injury

Mississippi State Bulldogs guard Trey Fort left the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Championship against Northwestern with an apparent head injury.

Fort was elbowed in the face accidentally by one of his teammates, Josh Hubbard. He immediately grabbed his face and was taken into the locker room right away. He would not return for the remainder of the first half. He had not scored by the time he left the game.

The Bulldogs trail the Wildcats 29-27 at the half.

Trey Fort is a junior in his first season with Mississippi State. He has previous stops in college at UT-Martin as well as two JUCOs, Copiah-Lincoln Community College and Howard College. While at Howard, Fort was a star, earning NJCAA All-America Second-Team accolades and NJCAA All-Star Game MVP honors. He also had 24.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 0.8 steals per game last season with Howard.

Early in the second half, the broadcast reported that Trey Ford would be able to return to the game. His nose was bloodied, but they were able to control it with both nostrils plugged, and with about 16 minutes remaining, he did come into the game.

The Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Championship is a tournament hosted by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and sponsored by the MAAC. For 25 years, the tournament was actually held at the Hall of Fame but it’s now held at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.

Four teams in total competed in the tournament, Mississippi State, Northwestern, Rhode Island, and Washington State. to get to the final against Northwestern, Mississippi State took down Washington State.

Both Mississippi State and Northwestern entered the game at 4-0 on the season. Trey Fort had already made his presence felt for the Bulldogs in those previous games, particularly the win against Arizona State.

Chris Jans evaluates the value of adding improved shooting to Mississippi State

One of the reasons why head coach Chris Jans brought Trey Fort to Mississippi State was his shooting ability. It was that improved shooting that Jans thought could have a huge impact on the Bulldogs throughout the season.

“I think probably on paper. And I think most fans are excited about having more guys on paper that have shown the ability at different levels, obviously to be able to knock down some jumpers,” Jans said.

“And it’s no secret that was an Achilles heel for our team last year. And you know I’m not proud of that stat. We’re proud of the fact that we overcame some shooting woes both from beyond the arc and from the free throw line. And still, you know, we had a really good season and I think that speaks volumes to the type of kids we had in our program, in terms of their resiliency and their togetherness, their ability to win close games, their ability to just figure it out on the fly, even though it could have been a little bit easier if we knocked them down.”