Bulldogs rebound from sloppy first half
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| Team Stat Comparison |
|
MISSISSIPPI STATE |
SOUTH ALABAMA |
| Points |
85 |
74 |
| FG Made-Attempted |
28-53 (.528) |
25-59 (.424) |
| 3P Made-Attempted |
9-14 (.643) |
8-18 (.444) |
| FT Made-Attempted |
20-25 (.800) |
16-21 (.762) |
| Fouls (Tech/Flagrant) |
18 (1/0) |
23 (1/0) |
| 2002-03 Season |
| DATE | GAME | LINKS |
| · Dec 30, 2002 | MSST 85, @USA 74 | Recap | Box Score |
| Next 5 Games |
| MISSISSIPPI STATE (ET) |
SOUTH ALABAMA (ET) |
| 01/02 @UAB 8:00pm | | 01/07 FLA 9:00pm | | 01/11 @LSU 8:00pm | | 01/15 @ALA 8:00pm | | 01/22 SCAR 8:00pm |
|
| 01/04 @UNO 2:00pm | | 01/09 ULL 8:05pm | | 01/11 NMSU 8:05pm | | 01/16 @MTSU 8:00pm | | 01/18 @WKU 8:00pm |
|
| · Complete Schedule: Mississippi State | South Alabama
|
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- Rick Stansbury knew his Mississippi State
team was poised for a letdown after beating Oklahoma over the
weekend.
He also knew
Timmy Bowers and
Derrick Zimmerman would help the
Bulldogs regain control against South Alabama on Monday night.
Bowers and Zimmerman each scored 21 points to lead the Bulldogs (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 8 AP) to an 85-74 victory.
"Those two guys understand things,'' Stansbury said. "They
understood it, they kept their emotions where they need to be, and
we found energy to win the game.''
The Bulldogs (9-1) shot 45 percent in the first half and
committed nine turnovers. The Jaguars'
Chris Young hit a 3-pointer
with 2 seconds left in the half, and Mississippi State led just
36-35 at the half.
South Alabama (6-5) took a 39-38 lead early in the second half
on two baskets by
Malerick Bedden. But the Bulldogs went on a 23-5
run that gave them a 61-44 lead, their largest of the game, with
11:24 left. Bowers scored seven and
Mario Austin added six during
the burst.
South Alabama didn't get closer than 10 points the rest of the
way.
"In the second half, we just tried to pick our intensity level
up and go out and play hard,'' Bowers said. "Defend and rebound,
that's the key to every ballgame. If we do that every game, we'll
keep on winning.''
Austin finished with 16 points and nine rebounds. The Alabama
native entered the game averaging 23.3 points.
Bedden led the Jaguars with 17 points. Young had 15 points, 12
of them in the first half.
It was the Jaguars' first game against a ranked opponent since
losing 64-51 to No. 22 Illinois in the 1998 NCAA tournament. South
Alabama had not played a ranked team at home since Feb. 22, 1992, a
104-78 loss to Cincinnati.
South Alabama coach John Pelphrey said his team didn't play well
enough to beat "a better basketball team.''
"You can't turn the ball over 19 times, and when you're getting
the shots at point-blank range, you've got to make those shots,''
Pelphrey said. "They're too good, too fast for us to not play
well. Mississippi State is the reason we didn't play well.''
(10) Mississippi State 85, 
South Alabama 74