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By Dave Morrison
Sports Editor
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Mountain State lost nine players from last year’s team, had arguably its best player injured in a preseason scrimmage and might have less size than it did a year ago.
But Tuesday night’s 105-83 breeze by Bluefield College Tuesday looked for all the world like those high-scoring, extended-run-producing MSU teams of the recent past.
Well, it was Halloween.
Yusuf Baker came disguised as a long-range assassin, scoring 21 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and hitting on 3-of-4 three pointers. This from a guy who made just two treys all of last season.
Who knew?
“I’d been working on it,” Baker said. “(Assistant) coach (Dave Barksdale) saw me shooting and told me not to be afraid to shoot the three in games. I always knew I could do it.”
“Coach Barksdale’s been telling me for a year-and-a-half that Yusuf was a shooter,” coach Bob Bolen said. “He’s seen it in the one-on-one sessions he does. I guess I’m a believer now.”
Jarvis Jackson came to the party as the classic MSU point guard — integral in the Cougars’ offense. Jackson had 13 points and dished out nine assists.
MSU always has outstanding shooters. With Paul Wright out for the foreseeable future with a dislocated elbow, Ralph Legg, a point guard by trade, has moved over to shooting guard. He had 19 points and six assists.
Renardo “Slim” Dixon, Tyrice Watkins and Adron Marshall came as the perfect role players. Dixon had 16 points, Marshall 13 and Watkins 10, six of which came during a decisive 17-0 run late in the first half that broke what had been a 33-33 tie.
“Tyrice Watkins gave us a lot of energy on that run,” Bolen said. “He pulled down a couple of rebounds on the defensive end, made a couple of big shots ... he was a big key.”
“I guess it was just time for them to make a run,” Bluefield coach Jason Gillespie said.
“We seemed to droop a little bit after they got a couple of baskets. I wouldn’t say we backed down, but we didn’t meet their intensity as we did earlier in the game.”
Curtis Dixon led the Rams with 21 points. Robert Sharpe had 14 and James Chapman 12.
Mountain State led by double figures most of the second half and by as many as 33 with six minutes left. A total of 14 players played for MSU.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, but I’m pleased with this win,” Bolen said. “That was a pretty good team we beat tonight.”
So was Baker, who thinks this team can be as explosive as the team he played on last year.
“We might have been a little more skilled last year,” Baker said. “But this year we have quicker guards and we seem to play well as a team. These guys play hard.”
Gillespie was impressed.
“I was a graduate assistant at a Division I school in the OVC (Ohio Valley Conference),” the former Tennessee Tech GA said. “And these guys could compete in that conference. We won’t see a team this athletic in our conference. It will definitely slow down for us in that respect. Bob (Bolen) doesn’t rebuild, he reloads.”
MSU (3-0) faces North Carolina Central at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Armory. N.C. Central will have scrimmage games with Duke and Wake Forest coming up a week later.
Bluefield College
Johnny Witherspoon 1-8 4-4 6, Curtis Dixon 7-21 2-2 21, Robert Sharp 6-14 2-2 14, Dontae Gholson 3-7 1-1 8, James Chapman 4-10 1-1 12, J.R. Montgomery 3-6 0-0 8, Philip Frazer 0-1 0-0 0, Rab Canoy 0-0 0-0 0, Seth Plemmons 1-2 0-0 3, James Childress III 2-3 0-0 6, Mike Roundtree 1-2 1-2 3, Laron Culmer 0-1 0-3 0, Omar Reed 1-2 0-2 2. Totals: 29-77 11-17 83.
Mountain State
Ralph Legg 8-16 0-1 19, Tyrice Watkins 4-8 1-4 10, Jarvis Jackson 4-7 3-4 13, Adron Marshall 2-4 4-4 9, Yusuf Baker 9-13 0-2 21, Emmanuel Coulibaly 3-7 2-2 9, Tony Fox 0-0 0-0 0, Dominic Himmons 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Owens 2-3 2-3 7, Renardo Dixon 6-9 2-2 16, Devin Hawes 0-1 1-2 1, Papa Gassama 0-1 0-0 0, Petroslav Zafirov 0-1 0-0 0, Ermin Tarcin 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 38-72 15-24 105.
Hlaftime: 50-36 (MSU). Three-point goals: B: 14-43 (Witherspoon 0-5, Dixon 5-15, Sharpe 0-2, Gholson 1-3, Chapman 3-7, Montgomery 2-5, Plemmons 1-2, Childress 2-3, Reed 0-1; MSU: 14-29 (Legg 3-8, Watkins 1-3, Jackson 2-3, Marshall 1-1, Baker 3-4, Coulibaly 1-3, Owens 1-2, Dixon 2-2, Hawes 0-1, Zafirov 0-1); Rebounds — B: 37 (Dixon, Sharpe 6), MSU: 47 (Baker 15), Assists — B: 16 (Witherspoon 8), MSU: 28 (Jackson 9) Fouled out: none.
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