Premier interior SEC matchup: Mississippi State's Smith, Florida's Castleton set to battle

Jan. 18—STARKVILLE — It has been a frustrating season for Mississippi State's Tolu Smith.

First, there was an offseason foot procedure that delayed the start of his season. Then, there was an issue with his other foot that kept him out most of December.

Most recently, Smith tested positive for COVID-19 and missed three SEC games. He returned on Saturday in a Quadrant 1 win against Alabama, but he played just 20 minutes before fouling out — though his minutes were likely going to be limited as he returns to game shape.

Smith wants to be on the court and coach Ben Howland knows how much the Bulldogs need him, but the 6-foot-11-inch forward might be trying too hard to get back to being the player he was at his peak last year — worthy of leading the SEC in rebounding.

Smith showed up at the team facilities at 8 a.m. on Monday and had a 45-minute workout with a graduate assistant, unbeknownst to Howland. Then, Smith lifted for 30 minutes before doing his organized 30-minute workout with the team.

Smith returned for another hour on the floor on his own ahead of a two-hour team practice.

"Tolu, this is how you got in this situation in the first place — by overdoing it," Howland told him. "Fighting him to stay out of the gym is a problem that I've never had in my life with a player before like I have with Tolu."

»IVERSON MOLINAR: MSU guard rewarded for big week

Howland wants Smith to be the starting center every game.

Smith wasn't expected to start against Alabama, but he shined in practice the day before so Howland put him in.

Howland feels Smith should be rewarded for his play last season along with his work in the offseason, but that drive is teetering on becoming cautionary.

"He wants it so bad," Howland said. "In some ways, you're so excited to have a guy like that. But with both his feet, it's a situation where we can't afford to go over the top like yesterday."

Mississippi State hits the road on Wednesday to face Florida — a team well-aware of Smith's potential.

Smith had season-highs in points (27), rebounds (14) and blocks (3) in Starkville against the Gators last season.

Wednesday's matchup features one of the best interior matchups in the SEC as Smith prepares to take on fellow 6-foot-11-inch forward Colin Castleton.

Casleton leads the Gators with 15.4 points per game to match his nine rebounds per game — second in the SEC.

"He's very hard for anybody in our league to guard one-on-one in the post. He gets you in foul trouble if you play him one-on-one. He is an excellent passer, so if you go to double him, he's very good at finding his teammates."

STEFAN KRAJISNIK is the Mississippi State athletics reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact him at stefan.krajisnik@djournal.com.