No. 7 Bulldogs bite Rebels

By By Tony Krausz/assistant sports editor
February 8, 2004
STARKVILLE Rick Stansbury couldn't tell you much about his team's 80-56 win over Ole Miss on Saturday.
The six-year Mississippi State University coach picked up two technical fouls and was ejected in the opening six minutes of the No. 7 Bulldogs' game against the Rebels (11-9, 3-6 Southeastern Conference).
Stansbury missed his team, which led 31-29 at the break, open the second half on an 18-6 run to take a 49-35 lead, with 10:53 to play.
He missed the Bulldogs forcing 23 Rebel turnovers, which led to 34 points for MSU. He missed a brutal contest in which the two squads combined for a total of 40 fouls, with the Bulldogs being whistled for 14 and the Rebels for 26.
MSU's bench leader also missed seeing and hearing 10,735 Bulldog fans, who made up the largest attendance number in the history of Humphrey Coliseum, hit new heights in decibel counts, as they cheered on the home team.
At least, Stansbury missed all these things from his normal position on the sideline, as his team improved to 19-1 for the season and 8-1 in the SEC.
MSU's Branden Vincent kick-started the Bulldogs' run at the start of the second scoring the team's first four points. The 6-foot-8 forward finished the game with eight points, six of which came in the second half.
Lawrence Roberts paced the Bulldogs' offense with 24 points, and Shane Power scored 15 points in the win. Timmy Bowers tallied 14 points for MSU, and Winsome Frazier added 12.
MSU hit 61.5 percent of its shots in the second half, which was a stark improvement over how the team started the game.
The Bulldogs posted their largest lead of the game, 77-54, with 1:19 left to play, after forward Lawrence Roberts hit a pair of free throws.
While MSU's offense heated up in the second half, the team also shutdown Ole Miss' offense. The Bulldogs hit 47.8 percent of their shots from the floor in the game.
No, it was MSU's defense that sealed the win. The Bulldogs tallied 13 steals and blocked seven Ole Miss shots in the win.
MSU's stingy ways nullified Ole Miss' Aaron Harper's team-high 16 point performance, and made Justin Reed's and Todd Abernethy's 19 points each insignificant in the contest.
The Bulldogs' 13th double-digit win of the season and ninth home win didn't have the makings for a blowout in the game's first 20 minutes.
MSU hit just 6-of-20 shots from the floor, and Bowers ended a 6 ∏ minute span, in which the Bulldogs didn't hit a single shot from the field, nailing a three-pointer from the top of the arc with 1:38 left in the first half.
The trey, which cut Ole Miss' lead to 29-25, sparked a 9-0 run for MSU in the final 98 seconds of the first.
The Bulldogs, who trailed the Rebels by as much as 27-18 with 3:33 to play in the opening half, took a 31-29 into the break.