Bulldogs pound Monmouth

By By Tony Krausz/assistant sports editor
March 20, 2004
ORLANDO, Fla. Mississippi State University returned to the form which allowed the team to capture its first outright Southeastern Conference championship in 41 years against Monmouth on Friday.
The Bulldogs (26-3) shut the Hawks down at the start of the second half to take an 85-52 win in the opening round of the NCAA tournament at the TD Waterhouse Centre.
MSU, which was coming off a 74-40 overtime loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament last week, outscored Monmouth (21-12) 39-18 in the second half.
The Bulldogs, who held a 46-34 lead at the break, limited the Hawks to just four points in the opening 11 minutes of the second, while scoring 27 points.
The victory was MSU's 15th double-digits win of the season, and it was the third time the Bulldogs followed a loss with a win.
MSU outrebounded Monmouth 47-20, including a 13-3 edge on the offensive glass.
The Bulldogs also capitalized on 17 Hawk turnovers, scoring 31 points off their opponent's ballhandling miscues.
Roberts led the way for MSU's offense, scoring 19 points, and Branden Vincent added 14. Shane Power finished with 13 points, and Gary Ervin came off the bench to score 11.
But all the news wasn't good for MSU.
Roberts had to be helped off the court with 10:43 remaining in the game after being poked in the eye by Monmouth forward Russ Anderson.
Roberts collapsed to the floor, and he said his vision was still a little blurry after the game.
It was the second scare MSU got from Roberts, who crashed to the floor hard with 7:12 left in the opening half after scoring on a layup.
The 6-foot-9 forward proved unfased by the hard landing, as he pounded the floor with his right hand and knocked down a free throw after the foul to complete the three-point play.
Monmouth's Dwayne Byfield scored a team-high 12 points, and Jason Krayl added nine.
The Northeast Conference tournament champions attempted to get back into the game late in the first half.
Down 36-24 with 7:11 left in the first half, the Hawks scored eight unanswered points to knock their deficit down to 36-32 with 5:06 left in the first.
Byfield powered the run knocking down a pair of three-pointers, and Alston Marques scored on a layup.
Roberts halted Monmouth's surge with a pair of free throws with 4:46 left in the first half, and the Bulldogs outscored the Hawks 10-2 to close out the half.
MSU will play Xavier at 11:10 a.m. on Sunday.