Riley Kugel's 22 points leads No. 17 Mississippi State past Bethune-Cookman

Entering the season Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans didn’t mention a particular set number of wins he hoped to get in the non-conference schedule. But following Monday’s win over Bethune-Cookman, Jans gave his squad a good grade heading into SEC play, which gets started this weekend.

Riley Kugel had a game-high 22 points and Josh Hubbard added 16 to lead No. 17 Mississippi State to an 87-73 win over Bethune-Cookman at Humphrey Coliseum. Mississippi State (12-1) struggled to put Bethune-Cookman (3-10) away for most of the game until posting a 16-4 run midway through the second half to gain control.

“I would say so far, so good,” Jans mentioned. “We’ve had high expectations for this team and we have for all of our teams since we’ve been here. Certainly the loss to Butler who beat us fair and square, I just didn’t like the way we competed that particular night. But from a 30,000-foot view, I’d say a B+ or in that range. But there’s a long way to go.”

Kugel was 10 of 13 from the floor and had four rebounds before fouling out late in the second half. RJ Melendez and Claudell Harris each had 12 points for Mississippi State with Harris scoring all of his points in the second half. Michael Nwoko had nine points for the Bulldogs and KeShawn Murphy had eight points and nine boardsl

“Just playing my game,” said Kugel. “Like I said the other day, just having fun. We are all in the gym every day and there’s a reward for it. We just work every day.”

For the game, State shot 51% from the floor and made 8 of 25 from 3 point territory. The Bulldogs were 17 of 24 from the charity stripe and had just nine turnovers. State also outscored the Wildcats 24-8 in points off turnovers.

Bethune-Cookman shot an even 50% for the game and made 5 of 15 beyond the 3 point arc. The Wildcats made 16 of 24 at the foul line, had 17 turnovers and outrebounded State 33-32.

“We work on that every day,” said Melendez, who had all 12 of his points in the first half. “We got guys before and after practice getting shots up. Then during practice we get a lot of shots up during drills. It’s just us getting in the gym and working on our game every single day. It gives us that confidence and we can get ourselves on the court.”

Trey Thomas and Brayon Freeman each had 21 points for Bethune-Cookman and Reggie Ward Jr. added 14. Thomas was ejected in the second half after receiving his second technical foul of the game.

Mississippi State jumped out to a 20-9 lead in the first half but could never shake the visiting Wildcats. The Bulldogs saw their lead cut to 27-26 later on the half before taking a 52-45 halftime lead.

“Unfortunately, we worked at guarding the ball a lot the last three days, not just because of the Bethune-Cookman game,” added Jans. “They are more of a drive type team and we just wanted to be better at it. It always goes back to that point of attack and that’s an area we’ve got to get better at.

“Going into the game I felt really good about the practices we’ve had and their buy-in into it. I didn’t think we were great at it tonight. That’s why they got some shots, for the most part, and we had some blown assignments.”

Bethune-Cookman shot 58% in the opening half and made 5 of 8 from 3 point range. The Wildcats were also 10 of 10 at the foul line and had seven first-half turnovers. Mississippi State shot 55% in the first half and made 5 of 13 beyond the 3 point arc. The Bulldogs were 11 of 12 at the foul line and had four turnovers in the half.

Now the Bulldogs turn their attention to the SEC grind and that 18-game slate begins Saturday. And for the veterans on the team, it’s the most exciting time of the regular season.

“I just can’t wait for it,” Kugel added. “I feel like it’s the best time of the year. I look forward to playing all those games and I can’t wait. It’s going to be a gauntlet and we’re ready for it.”

Up next

Mississippi State vs. South Carolina on Saturday with 1 p.m. tipoff at Humphrey Coliseum. The Gamecocks defeated Presbyterian on Monday night to improve to 10-3 heading into Saturday’s league opener.