Mississippi State Defeats Arizona State 71-56 in Season Opener Despite Absence of Top Scorers

Junior college transfer Trey Fort leads with 21 points, Bulldogs overcome absence of Shakeel Moore and Tolu Smith; Arizona State struggles with newly formed roster and poor shooting.

• Trey Fort was Mississippi State's top scorer with 21 points, with Jimmy Bell Jr. and Dashawn Davis contributing 13 and 10 points respectively, leading the Bulldogs to a 71-56 victory.
• Four Bulldogs, including Davis and Fort, each made a 3-pointer shot early in the second half, pushing Mississippi State's lead to 53-28, which Arizona State couldn't regain despite outscoring the Bulldogs 38-32 in the latter half.
• Mississippi State managed to take a significant lead and maintain it even in the absence of top scorers Shakeel Moore and Tolu Smith due to violation of team rules and a foot injury respectively.
• Arizona State struggled and shot poorly throughout the game, scoring 32.1 percent from the field and just 23.8 percent from three-point attempts. The Sun Devils had only three returning players from the last season.
• Mississippi State's three-point shooting improved significantly in this game, making 10 of 26 attempts, an improvement from last year when they were the worst 3-point shooting team in Division I at 26.6 percent.

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