Rocket Watts has breakout performance for Mississippi State basketball

STARKVILLE — After the way Rocket Watts played in Tuesday’s practice, Mississippi State basketball coach Ben Howland figured the guard was close to a breakthrough.

Watts underwent offseason hip surgery shortly after his transfer from Michigan State, forcing the Detroit native to miss the beginning of the season. And even when Watts did return against Detroit Mercy on Nov. 17, the junior didn’t look like himself on the floor.

All the practice time he missed was apparent. Watts was off, shooting 2-for-8 combined between his first four games, with more turnovers (eight) than points (four).

But Watts shot 6-for-6 in Tuesday’s practice, including four 3-pointers — a display that filled Howland with belief that the guard was closer to rediscovering his rhythm. In Mississippi State’s 75-60 win against Lamar on Thursday at Humphrey Coliseum, that’s what Watts did.

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He still played an understudy role to starters Iverson Molinar and Shakeel Moore, but Watts put together his most complete performance as a Bulldog, scoring 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting. This is what Howland expected when Watts arrived. But it’s taken some time to materialize.

“I’m not surprised it’s taken him some time,” Howland said. “It’s a serious deal when you have a labrum tear in your hip. It’s a no-joke thing. And I think he’s going to get better and better.”

If Thursday was the starting point, Howland will like what's to come for Mississippi State (6-1). Watts hit 3 of 4 3-point attempts, and he caught a defender with a pump-fake, creating space as the Cardinals (1-7) player flew by, to hit a jumper.

And Watts dazzled with a drive down the baseline, beating two defenders, before finishing at the rim.

"It felt real great," Watts said. "The whole process, going through it with my hip, for me to come out and play how I did and for my teammates to keep believing in me, and we came out with the win, I feel real great."

Message received

Howland could hardly believe his eyes when he saw forward Tolu Smith ended the half without a rebound. Smith had led the SEC last season in the category, but he entered the locker room with zero points and zero rebounds.

So Howland got on Smith.

"You gotta rebound. I mean, are you kidding me? You led the SEC in rebounding last year," Howland told Smith.

"I was, uh, well, pretty encouraging," said Howland with a smile.

Smith heard the message. And in the second half, he broke out. Smith called the first half his worst period as a Mississippi State player, so he was motivated to make a difference down the stretch.

The Bay St. Louis native finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, recording his second straight double-double. He scored 22 points with 11 rebounds against Richmond in last week's Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship, his second game back from a September surgery to correct a stress fracture in his foot.

In his third game, Smith appeared to be feeling the lack of practice time of late before flipping a switch.

"To be honest, that was probably the worst half I've ever had for Mississippi State," Smith said. "I just wasn't there mentally. I feel like I needed to pick it up mentally. Coach got on my (butt) — excuse my language — coach got on me, and he was telling me I had to pick this up or we're not going to play how we want to play."

Looking ahead

Mississippi State will host Minnesota (6-0) on Sunday (1 p.m., ESPNU) in what will be a steep incline in competition compared to Lamar. The Bulldogs weren't proud of their defensive effort in the first half against the Cardinals, so that's a focus to lock in against the Golden Gophers.

Watts, who played against Minnesota while at Michigan State, knows the challenge that team poses.

"They're just a great all-around team," Watts said. "They got some good bigs and they run the floor well."

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Rocket Watts has breakout performance for Mississippi State basketball vs Lamar