12/28/01 - BULLDOGS CLOSE OUT NON-SEC SLATE WITH TULANE ON THE ROAD
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Following last week's third-place team tournament finish at the Las Vegas Classic, the Mississippi State Bulldogs conclude the non conference portion of their 2001-02 regular-season schedule by taking on the Tulane Green Wave of Conference USA Saturday afternoon in New Orleans. Tip-off time is set for 2 p.m. at the 17,832-seat New Orleans Arena.
Coach Rick Stansbury's Bulldogs are 12-1 on the season after posting a 3-1 tournament record during the inaugural Las Vegas Classic. Currently tied with Oklahoma State and Miami (Fla.) for the most wins in NCAA Division I men's basketball this season, MSU most recently secured narrow wins over Richmond (74-72) and Illinois-Chicago (77-74) around a 90-56 setback to now-17th ranked Cincinnati during a three-day span (Dec. 20-22) in Las Vegas. The Bulldogs matched the school's all-time standard of 11 consecutive wins to open the season with last week's two-point tourney triumph over the Richmond Spiders.
Now off to their fastest 13-game start since the 1961-62 campaign, the Bulldogs are presently ranked 32nd in the nation according to CollegeRPI.com and 29th nationally in the most recent Sagarin Ratings.
Saturday's road contest against Tulane will mark Mississippi State's sixth consecutive game played away from the friendly confines of Humphrey Coliseum. Beginning with successive road outings against Louisiana-Monroe and Georgia State in Southaven and Atlanta, respectively, during back-to-back days two weekends ago (Dec. 15-16), the Bulldogs recently completed a pre-Christmas stretch in which they played five games during an eight-day span.
Entering the weekend ranked first in the SEC in team field-goal percentage (50.3%) and second in rebounding margin (+9.7 rpg), Mississippi State is led in scoring by senior Marckell Patterson and sophomore Mario Austin at 15.0 and 14.8 points per game, respectively. A former McDonald's High School All American from York, Ala., Austin averaged a team-leading 16.3 points and 9.0 rebounds during MSU's three games in Las Vegas en route to garnering all tournament team honors. For the season, the backcourt tandem of sophomore Timmy Bowers and junior Derrick Zimmerman are contributing 9.8 and 9.5 points per game, respectively. Zimmerman leads the SEC in assists at 6.6 an outing.
Guided by second-year head coach Shawn Finney, Tulane owns an 8-1 record on the season after claiming a 79-69 road win over Georgia Tech last Sunday. Like MSU, the Green Wave's sole blemish on the year came against a ranked opponent, as the now-second ranked Florida Gators pinned an 81-65 loss on TU earlier this month in Gainesville. Currently ranked 31st nationally by CollegeRPI.com and 38th in the Sagarin Rankings, Tulane is 6-0 at home this season, including an 87-77 win over Vanderbilt at the New Orleans Arena. TU features a quartet of double-figure scorers on the year, led by junior forwards Brandon Brown and Nick Sinville at 16.4 and 14.4 points per game, respectively.
MSU returns home to begin SEC action by playing host to now-sixth ranked Kentucky next Saturday (Jan. 5). Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. at Humphrey Coliseum.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Media Relations Department
12/25/01 - Since the 17th of November, the MSU men's basketball RPI has gone from 187 to 33 in the latest CollegeRPI.com rankings.
12/22/01 - MSU men's basketball stats in the SEC through Dec. 21st.
Notes:
12/20/01
LADY BULLDOGS TO FACE PITTSBURGH AND NO. 16 N.C. STATE IN CANCUN, MEXICO
STARKVILLE, Miss. --- Sharon Fanning's Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs will tip off play in the Sports Tour International Tournament in Cancun, Mexico, versus Pittsburgh (3-6), Thursday evening at 6 p.m. CST. The Lady Bulldogs will meet No. 16 North Carolina State (6-2) Friday at 3 p.m. to conclude MSU's participation in the tournament.
State (7-2) has won three-straight, including a 78-73 victory in overtime over Montana to clinch the MSU Classic championship last Sunday. Pittsburgh, coached by Traci Waites, has lost three games in a row.
Junior forward LaToya Thomas continues to lead MSU and the SEC in scoring, at a 22.6 ppg clip. She also leads the team in rebounding (9.9 rpg) and field goal percentage (55.3 percent). She led State over Montana last Sunday by scoring 26 points and grabbing 22 rebounds. Freshman guard Tan White is sixth in the conference in scoring (17.2 ppg) and has pulled down 7.2 boards per game. Senior post player Jennifer Fambrough is also averaging double-figures for MSU, with 13.8 ppg.
State is second in the conference in scoring, with 85.3 ppg. MSU has averaged nearly 96 points per contest in its last three games, all victories. State tops the conference in three-point field goal percentage (42.6 percent) and is second in free-throw percentage (75.3 percent).
Mississippi State and Pittsburgh will be meeting for the second time. State defeated the Panthers, 68-59, in 1977. MSU is 0-1 all-time versus N.C. State. The Wolfpack eliminated the Lady Bulldogs from the 1999 NCAA Tournament.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Media Relations Department
12/20/01
LADY BULLDOGS INK LOUISIANA STANDOUT
STARKVILLE, Miss. --- The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs have signed Blessing Chekwa from John Ehret High School in Morrero, Louisiana, to a national letter of intent, Sharon Fanning announced Thursday.
Chekwa, a 5-11 small forward, is averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds per game as a senior, leading her team to a 13-2 record. Prior to this season she was nominated as a Pre-season McDonald's All-American.
Last year Chekwa averaged 18 points and ten boards, leading John Ehret to the Louisiana 5A state title and a 32-2 overall record. She was selected First Team All-State and District MVP following the season.
"Blessing is a winner with tremendous work ethic," Fanning said. "She understands the game and should be on of our best perimeter defensive players. Blessing runs the floor and can get the ball to the rim. We expect her to play a very important role for us as a freshman."
Chekwa plans to major in physical therapy at Mississippi State and has a 3.0 grade point average in high school.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Media Relations Department
12/14/01 - MSU announces two women's basketball signees.
STARKVILLE, Miss. --- The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs signed Mamie McKinney, of Tallahassee, Fla., to a national letter of intent, head coach Sharon Fanning announced Wednesday.
McKinney, a 6-1 post player, is averaging 14.2 points per game and 13.6 rebounds per contest through five games as a senior this season for Frank Johnson's Lincoln High Lady Trojans. She is also averaging 5.2 steals per game while shooting better than 70 percent from the free-throw line.
"Mamie has made tremendous improvement since last year," Johnson said. "She is the heart and soul of our current team."
McKinney helped the Lady Trojans set school records for most wins and fewest losses (22-7) as a junior last season. She led the squad in rebounds (8.9 rpg) and was third on the team in scoring, averaging nearly seven points per contest. She also led the Lady Trojans in blocked shots, with 2.7 per game, and was second in steals, with 2.5 per contest.
"She is a very athletic and versatile player," Fanning said. "She can score on the rim, rebounds with authority, and will lead the break after rebounds. She should fit well into a motion offense and pressure defense. We expect Mamie to make a difference as a freshman."
McKinney has a 3.0 grade point average and plans to major in computer science at Mississippi State. She is the first announced signee of MSU's 2001-02 signing class.
Moore is averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds per game for the June Seals-coached Sparkman High Senators. She is also averaging five blocked shots and is dishing out three assists per contest. The 6-2 post player was selected as one of Alabama's Super Seniors for the 2001-02 school year.
"Tiffany is a very hard worker and will play the post position for us," Fanning said. "She is a winner and a competitor. She works extremely hard, and can post low or shoot the three. She is a very physical player and will make us better as a freshman."
Moore holds a 2.9 grade point average and intends to major in psychology at Mississippi State.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Media Relations Department
12/09/01 - MSU USES SECOND HALF TO TURN BACK ARKANSAS STATE, 91-83
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State, scoring 33 of its 91 points from the charity stripe and tallying a 48-36 advantage on the boards, moved to 8-0 for the second time in the Rick Stansbury era with a 91-83 victory over Arkansas State Saturday afternoon in Humphrey Coliseum.
Mario Austin scored 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to record his second straight and third career double-double in leading five Mississippi State players with double-digit scoring efforts, including Michal Ignerski who tallied a career-high 19 points. Marckell Patterson and Derrick Zimmerman scored 16 and 14 points, respectively, for the winners. Timmy Bowers added 11 points off the bench, while Michael Gholar collected a career-high 11 rebounds.
Terrance Saulsberry came off the bench to pace Arkansas State (6-3) and matched Austin with a game-high 20 points. Guard Nick Rivers added 19 points for the Indians, but was held to just two points in the second stanza.
"Arkansas State is an excellent basketball team. They have great size, great shooters and great depth."
The victory marked MSU's first 8-0 start since the 1998-99 season and pushed the Bulldogs to within three victories of matching the school-record 11-0 start by the 1957-58 ballclub. The game marked the 10th meeting between MSU and Arkansas State and the first since the 1958-59 season. The Bulldogs now lead the all-time series, 8-2.
"This game was a tale of two halves," said Mississippi State head coach Rick Stansbury. "In the first half, Nick Rivers was unbelievable for them and hit everything. But, we made an adjustment at halftime and put Derrick Zimmerman on him and he did a nice job of shutting Rivers down in the second half."
Mississippi State scored 12 of the game's first 17 points to take control early, but Arkansas State got back to within three points on a Kolin Weaver tip-in at the 11:11 mark. The Bulldogs grabbed an 11-point advantage on an Austin layup with 8:29 remaining, but Arkansas State hung around and used an 11-5 run in the waning moments of the stanza to take a 46-45 lead, MSU's first deficit in six home games this season, into the break.
Mississippi State scored the first five points of the second half to take a lead it would never relinquish. A pair of Austin free throws with 12:11 remaining ignited the Bulldogs on a 9-0 run that gave the hosts a 12-point lead with 10:06 left, before Ignerski's free throw three minutes later pushed the lead out to a game-high 14 points.
"We had a good effort and I am proud of our guys," said Arkansas State head coach Dickey Nutt. "I feel that we could have done some things in the second half to hold our lead and continue to play the way we wanted to play, but you have to give credit to Mississippi State. I thought they turned up their defense in the second half. They are extremely athletic. They are, by far, the best team that we have played so far this year."
The Bulldogs will return to action next Saturday when the squad travels to Southaven to take on visiting Louisiana-Monroe in the first round of the inaugural Las Vegas Classic. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at the DeSoto Civic Center.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Media Relations Department
12/07/01 - MEN'S BASKETBALL TICKETS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET
STARKVILLE, Miss. Individual game tickets for Mississippi State men's basketball games are now available for purchase on the internet, as well as over the counter at the Bryan Athletic Administration building and via telephone.
To purchase tickets electronically, fans should access the official Mississippi State website, and hit the ticket office link on the front page. Once inside the ticket office link, fans should go to the men's basketball area for more information.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Media Relations Department