MSU never gave Auburn a chance
By By Jeff Byrd / sports editor
March 9, 2003
STARKVILLE Poor Auburn. They never had a chance.
It was Senior Day at The Hump, and the SEC West Division title was on the line.
A crowd of over 9,700, almost all of them rooting for the white-and-maroon-clad Bulldogs, were left breathlessly awaiting a big victory.
They got it and then some.
With abundant joy they got to see senior guard Derrick Zimmerman and senior forward Michal Ignerski rise to the occasion. Then they got to see what is a rare occasion on a home floor in Mississippi a cutting down the net ceremony.
Zimmerman got the last clip. He paused to give the Bulldog faithful a chance to roar its approval for a final time. The day belonged to him. It belonged to the Bulldogs.
Okay, so State wins the West with a pretty ugly 9-7 record. They lost to a very good Florida club at home. They later lost to a bad Arkansas squad on the road.
Ole Miss, which hasn't won a SEC game in five weeks, were able to beat the Hogs Saturday to land the No. 5 spot in the SEC West.
Still, Rick Stansbury's Bulldogs found a way to come back. The way was paved by defense.
State has the best defensive team in the SEC. They entered the Auburn game holding its opponents to under 40 percent shooting.
Combine that with a quick striking offense led by Zimmerman and junior wing Timmy Bowers, and Auburn, indeed, did not have a prayer.
A key for the Bulldogs was their ability to harass Auburn's backcourt. Guard Derrick Byrd was coming off two straight games scoring in the 20s for the Tigers.
On this day in Starkville, he had just four points, making just 2-of-8 shots and no three-pointers.
Then came the offense.
The Bulldogs were able to grab a 16-point halftime lead without a single point from its top player the 6-foot-9 Mario Austin.
Ignerski, Bowers and Zimmerman were a combined 6-for-11 from the three-point line in the first half. The trio accounted for 28 of the 33 first half points.
Auburn, meanwhile, didn't even get to 33 points until there were six minutes left in the game.
State had trouble with zone defenses in losses at Arkansas and Tennessee heading into Saturday's showdown with Auburn.
That might be argued with some. But not with Auburn coach Cliff Ellis.
His Tigers finished SEC play with an 8-8 record. They are now 19-10 overall. While some in the basketball community may look down on Auburn's lack of strength in non-conference foes, Ellis doesn't. The SEC is tough enough.
Auburn will face the winner of the Arkansas-Georgia winner next Friday at the SEC Tournament in New Orleans.
State will get either a rematch with Tennessee, the team they lost to in Knoxville on Wednesday, or another game against its arch-rival Ole Miss on Friday at noon in the Dome.
