No. 17 Mississippi State wants more vs. Long Beach State

Mississippi State is 2-0 and ranked No. 17 in Ben Howland's fourth season as coach heading into Friday's non-conference home game against Long Beach State.

An 18-point win this early in the season, such as the Bulldogs' 77-59 triumph over visiting Hartford on Sunday, should mean that Howland's team is on the right path.

Howland, though, admitted: "We weren't that happy in the locker room after an 18-point win. It tells you we have high expectations internally."

One stat that stood out was Mississippi State's nine free throw attempts, two less than Hartford. Howland said he believes that is a sign his team is not aggressive enough.

"We'd like to get to the line more than nine times for sure," Howland said.

Long Beach State (1-2) had many ugly stats to look at following Monday's 90-58 loss at Arizona State.

The 49ers lost the rebounding battle 63-30. They made 6 of 31 shots from the field in the first half and went two stretches of more than four minutes without a point.

Jordan Griffin led Long Beach with nine points.

"We looked like a team that played three games in the last four days," said Long Beach State coach Dan Monson, whose team lost at UCLA last Friday and beat Menlo on Saturday.

"We were a step behind everything early, and they looked like a team possessed. They were just more aggressive than we were."

Long Beach State was without standout Deishaun Booker for much of the game. Booker, scored 31 points last week in a loss to UCLA, picked up three fouls in the first half, then went to the bench 31 seconds into the second half after being called for his fourth. He recorded eight points and one field goal.

Frustration set in when Long Beach State's Demetrius Mims was ejected with 6:43 left in the game after being called for a flagrant foul.

On a much smaller scale of frustration, Howland said the Bulldogs did not adjust to the way Hartford played defensively -- loose, tempting Mississippi State to take 3-point shots

He talked favorably of junior guard Tyson Carter, who made 4 of 7 shots from 3-point range after missing all four of his attempts from that far against Austin Peay in the previous game.

"I'm feeling pretty good," Carter said. "I felt pretty good the other night, it just wasn't falling for me. I didn't really put too much thought into it."

Mississippi State also had 15 steals, including six by Quinndary Weatherspoon, who also had 22 points against Hartford.

Howland was also impressed by his team's 16 offensive rebounds that led to 20 second-chance points.

He continued to harp on his team's shortcomings, however, including the lack of being aggressive on offense.

"We've got to learn from watching the film and keep growing and getting better," Howland said.

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