Mississippi State men's hoops fans get first chance to see Watts, Smith together at home Thursday

Dec. 2—STARKVILLE — Mississippi State men's basketball (5-1) coach Ben Howland is patient with Rocket Watts' return to the rotation.

So despite challenges in-game for Watts, Howland is finding promise in what Watts is doing in practice.

Watts scored two points across two games at last week's Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship, but what stands out to Howland is the 6 of 6 performance Watts had in practice Tuesday.

"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."

Much of the same goes for forward Tolu Smith, though his progress is apparent during games.

Smith — who led the SEC in rebounding last season — made his season debut in the Bahamas. He started both games, playing 21 minutes in the first game and 32 in the second.

Smith scored 10 points in the first (a loss to Louisville) and 22 in the second (a win against Richmond). In the latter, he recorded his first double-double of the year with 11 boards.

Most importantly than the production, Howland says Smith's body responded just fine with the workload.

Howland says Smith was breaking in some orthotics yesterday unbeknownst to Howland and the trainer because of his constant push to return back to normal. That created some soreness after Tuesday's practice.

"You can't do that," Howland says. "That's not how you break him in."

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State fans will have their first chance to see Smith and Watts together on the court Thursday when MSU welcomes Lamar to Humphrey Coliseum.

With Smith and Watts returning to the lineup, MSU has 15 players who have seen the court this season.

"This is the most depth of any team I've had since I've been here," Howland said. "And we have very competitive practice every day."

Lamar is 1-6 on the season with its lone win coming in its season-opener against Wiley College.

With a Big Ten foe Minnesota on MSU's slate Sunday, Howland is not letting his team overlook Lamar.

Howland pointed to Lamar's 75-66 loss at Georgia Tech as a game where Lamar played tough against a quality opponent as to why MSU can't slack Thursday.

"We've got to come out and play with great intensity," Howland said.