State doesn't falter this time
By By Danny P. Smith / special to The Star
Jan. 23, 2003
STARKVILLE It began to look too familiar for a while in the second half for the 22nd-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs held a 31-19 halftime lead against the South Carolina Gamecocks and had a 20-point lead at 44-24 with 13:18 remaining in Wednesday's college basketball game at Humphrey Coliseum.
Then all of a sudden the lead shrank to 10 points at 48-38 at the 9:09 mark and South Carolina was gaining the momentum.
With Mississippi State already letting halftime leads get away against Florida and Alabama in two of its three Southeastern Conference losses this season, it would have been easy to let negative thoughts enter into the mind.
However, the Bulldogs responded with a 16-10 run down the stretch and went on to a 64-48 victory over the Gamecocks.
Senior point guard and captain Derrick Zimmerman delivered the message to the Bulldogs at halftime that he didn't want the season to continue taking the course it had in the first three SEC games.
A crowd of 7,035 looked on as Mississippi State improved to 11-4 overall and 1-3 in the SEC, while South Carolina dropped to 7-8 overall and 1-4 in the league.
After the Gamecocks managed to cut the lead to 48-38, it did not put the Bulldogs in a state of panic.
When Ontario Harper sank a pair of free throws, Mississippi State began to stretch the margin out again and the lead grew to as much as 18 points at 61-43 with 29 seconds remaining.
Both teams were struggling to find points early in the first half as leading scorers were being shut down.
Mario Austin got going for the Bulldogs at the 7:35 mark and scored eight straight points to turn a 13-10 lead into 21-10 with 5:29 left in the first half.
While Austin got into the offensive groove, South Carolina's Carlos Powell continued to struggle.
Powell, who averaged 15.1 points per game coming in, did not score in the first half and only had two points for the game.
The Gamecocks only shot 22 percent (5 of 23) from the field in the first half and 28 percent (14 of 51) for the game.
Kerbrell Brown came off the bench to score 15 points for the Gamecocks, while Tony Kitchings and Chuck Eidson added 12 points each.
For Mississippi State, Austin had 18 points, while Timmy Bowers scored 15, Winsome Frazier added 11, and Michal Ignerski chipped in 10 points.
The Bulldogs will back home Saturday when they face LSU for the second time this season. Mississippi State lost an 85-72 decision in Baton Rouge on Jan. 11.
