No. 11 Dogs temper their enthusiasm

By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
Jan. 30, 2004
Mississippi State University's Rick Stansbury is taking his team's recent winning streak with extremely guarded enthusiasm.
The Bulldogs (17-1, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) have climbed up to the 11th spot in the Associated Press over the last two weeks, plus MSU has defeated four straight conference foes by double digits.
Still after Wednesday night's 82-60 drumming of Tennessee at Humphrey Coliseum, Stansbury reminded everybody that there are still plenty of games left in the 2003-04 season.
It could be very hard for the Bulldogs, who have a 2 1/2-game lead in the Western Division, not to over look their opponent for this weekend.
MSU ventures to Auburn to take on the Western cellar dwelling Tigers (11-6, 2-4 SEC) for a 3 p.m. game.
Auburn, which is tied for last in the division with Ole Miss, hasn't played since falling 68-52 to No. 22 Florida on Jan. 24.
Though the Tigers appear to be a wounded basketball team, dropping three of their last four games, Auburn has been able to harass opposing offenses in the conference.
The Tigers are ranked third in defense allowing 60.9 points per game. The Bulldogs are sixth in that category giving up 63.4 points a game.
Auburn is also ranked first in rebounding margin in the conference pulling 8.2 more boards than its opponent per game. MSU is second in rebounding grabbing 6.5 more per game than its foe.
Stansbury's words of warning and all numbers aside, MSU has been on a tear since suffering its lone loss of the season to Kentucky on Jan. 13.
The Bulldogs have outscored their last four opponents 301-240, and they have emerged has a dominate force in the Western Division.
Ole Miss enters its Saturday home contest with No. 24 South Carolina (18-2, 5-1 SEC) trying to restart a winning streak that was snapped last Wednesday.
The Rebels (10-7, 2-4 SEC) fell to No. 5 Kentucky 71-61 in Lexington, Ky., in a midweek contest.
South Carolina, which entered the top 25 on Jan. 19, ventures to Tad Smith Coliseum riding a five-game winning streak and holding a half-game lead in Eastern Division over Kentucky (14-2, 4-14 SEC).
The Gamecocks fell to the Rebels 71-53 in their last meeting in Oxford on Jan. 26, 2002. Ole Miss is set to tip off against South Carolina at noon, and the game will be televised by Jefferson Pilot.
The University of Southern Mississippi (9-8, 2-4 Conference USA) will try to rebound from a 79-67 loss to TCU (7-10, 3-3 C-USA) with another road game on Saturday.
The Golden Eagles journey to New Orleans for a 7:30 p.m. contest against Tulane (7-9, 0-5 C-USA). USM will try to break a two-game losing streak against Tulane.
In Southwestern Athletic Conference action, Jackson State (8-8, 6-1 SWAC) travels to Itta Bena for a battle for conference supremacy against Mississippi Valley State (12-5, 6-1 SWAC).
The Tigers and Delta Devils are tied for the top spot in the conference, and both team are coming off wins. MVSU defeated Prairie View A&M last Monday 94-63, and JSU won its last game 83-64 over Grambling on Jan. 24.
Alcorn State (5-10, 4-4 SWAC) does not play this weekend after hosting non-conference foe Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Thursday.