Mississippi State
(5-3)
Southeastern Louisiana
(5-3)
State Rips Lions, 84-59, For Fifth Win
December 08, 2007 | Men's Basketball
? Official Statistics
? Official Statistics (PDF)
? Postgame Notes & Quotes (PDF)
Gordon, who fell two points short of his career high of 27 points, also set his season record for field goals made and attempted as he shot 8-of-18 from the field and for free throws made as he was 8-of-10 from the charity stripe. All-SEC senior Charles Rhodes shot 7-of-8 from the field for 16 points and also tied the game-high with seven rebounds. Rounding out Bulldog scorers in double digits, sophomore Ben Hansbrough recorded 10 points in the winning effort. After outrebounding the Lions 22-13 in the first half, State approached the second stanza with a comfortable 41-27 lead. Southeastern slowly chipped away at that lead after Mississippi State's sophomore defensive presence Jarvis Varnado was benched due to foul trouble however, and brought the game to 48-39 on a Travis Nance layup at the 15:10 mark. That was as close as SLU would come as the Bulldogs would then go on a series of runs including an 8-0 stretch capped by two consecutive three-pointers by freshman Kodi Augustus, the first two of his Maroon and White career. Fresh from a trip to Tuscaloosa in which Southeastern Louisiana saw a six-point lead vanish and then fell to Alabama by two points in overtime, the Lions were outrebounded on the game 39-24 and were greatly affected by State's second-ranked field goal percentage defense, as Southeastern only managed to shoot 1-of-11 from behind the arc. The Lions have lost only three games on the season, and each of them to SEC teams. Head coach Rick Stansbury now moves just one win shy of tying former mentor Richard Williams to become Mississippi State's all-time winningest basketball coach in history. The Bulldogs have now won 23 consecutive home games in the month of December and owns a 16-1 all-time mark against SLU. Mississippi State will now cap off a three-game homestand by hosting Miami (FL) next Thursday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. CT in a contest televised by FSN/SUN.
