State's success begins on the defensive end
By Staff
January 4, 2003
The expectations surrounding Mississippi State's men's basketball team are high.
They should be.
The Bulldogs have all the tools to be a power in the Southeastern Conference and on the national college basketball scene.
Mario Austin is the premier post player that strong teams need. Derrick Zimmerman is the outstanding ball handler and distributor of the basketball that outstanding teams need.
Michal Ignerski gives MSU depth and strength in the front court and Timmy Bowers is a scorer out of the backcourt.
The Bulldogs are good. They really are.
But the key to this team runs much deeper than the offensive prowess of Austin and his compadres.
It turns even deeper than the depth of the bench which, by the way, is growing deeper game-by-game.
This team is run by defense.
And in this day and time of run-and-gun and show me how many points you can put up basketball, this is a team that is proud of that fact.
Very proud, in fact.
And when it comes to defense there is no doubt in MSU head coach Rick Stansbury's mind where that all starts with the Bulldogs.
Stansbury said it is his team's worth ethic and the fact that the players are sold out on the importance of banging the boards and working hard on the defensive end, that allows them to play sloppily on offense at times and still win the game.
Despite a mistake-ridden first 10 minutes of State's 68-52 win over Alabama-Birmingham on Thursday night, Mississippi State put together a 24-5 run late in the first half on the way to a 38-21 halftime advantage.
The Bulldogs held the UAB Blazers to 36.7 percent shooting from the floor on Thursday, making it six consecutive games in which teams have shot less than 40 percent from the floor against MSU.
State held powerful Oklahoma to just 31.5 percent shooting, while Xavier hit for just 35.3 percent.
In a 78-38 win in early December, MSU held Louisiana Tech to just 12 field goals and a paltry 23.1 percent.
And so far, MSU has certainly been winning.
After losing the opener 79-76 to Louisiana-Lafayette, the Bulldogs have reeled off 10 straight wins. Now comes a grueling SEC schedule that begins in Starkville at Humphrey Coliseum on Tuesday when Florida comes in for an 8 p.m. ESPN game.
