Mississippi State wins Fort Myers Tip-Off championship
A back-and-forth battle for supremacy saw Mississippi State take home the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off Beach Division Championship Wednesday night.
The Bulldogs (6-0) held on in the end to hoist the trophy via a 52-49 win over Utah (5-2) in a game that was tied with just four minutes left in regulation.
Mississippi State started the game on an 8-2 run thanks to the shooting touch of D.J. Jeffries. By the halfway point in the first half, the Utes had tied things up as their defensive strategy was to deny Bulldog bigs the paint.
“Their game plan was obvious from the jump,” said Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans. “We pretty much figured they would dare us to shoot it and pack it in, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. We were struggling trying to find our way down in (the paint) because they were just surrounding Tolu (Smith). I said to my staff, ‘We’re going to have to make some 3s to win.'”
Smith eventually worked his skill down low, hitting a lay-up that broke the tie and send the Bulldogs on a run to end the half, finding themselves with a 25-21 advantage.
The Utes, behind Gabe Madsen and Marco Anthony, took a 4-point lead less than six minutes into the second half that was extended via a Madsen long-ball.
A defensive battle in the final 10 minutes ensued, but it was the shooting magic of Dashawn Davis down the stretch that gave Mississippi State the advantage they needed. Davis, who finished with a game-high 18 points, knocked down 3 pointers with 8:55 to play to bring the Bulldogs within one, with 4:01 to go to tie the game, and with 2:27 remaining to put his team up two possessions.
“He’s playing on a pretty hobbled ankle. He hasn’t practiced since before the first game,” Jans said of Davis. “Basically, we tried to get him as close to 100% as we could coming into this tournament. And if you really know him and watch him, he hobbled around. He wasn’t nearly as explosive as he normally is. He wasn’t getting in the paint. He made some shots, obviously, but he’s been real gutsy about it. He really stepped up when we needed him.”
Smith, who was named tournament Most Valuable Player, said, “(Davis) is the MVP of the (tournament). I don’t care what anybody says. I’m proud of my man. Proud of the shots he made. We needed that uplifting tempo he brought to the game.”
Davis said, “I just felt that I needed to step up for my team. We needed that spark, we needed that boost, and I was the one to do it.”
As a team, Mississippi State shot just 25.4% from the floor (17-of-67). Jans said ugly wins are sometimes a part of the game. Smith added that the team has a “defense first” mentality.
“That’s how you have to win college basketball games sometimes. It’s not pretty,” Jans said. “You got to take ’em when you can get them. We were out of rhythm, and they had a lot to do with it, but a lot of our 3s were open.”
In the third-place game of the Beach Division, Marquette defeated Georgia Tech 84-60.
Sam Houston beat South Dakota 80-49 to take home the Palms Division Championship.
In the first-ever Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off; Towson, Maryland, DePaul and Pitt took part over three days.
–Connect with Associate Sports Editor CJ Haddad on Twitter: @haddad_cj