Mississippi State
(19-13)
Mississippi Valley State
(18-16)
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi Valley State | 24 | 39 | 63 |
| Mississippi State | 40 | 42 | 82 |
Bulldogs Oust MVSU, 82-63, In NIT First Round; To Host Bradley/Providence Winner In Round of 16 Saturday
March 13, 2007 | Men's Basketball
* Official Statistics (PDF)
* Postgame Notes & Quotes (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - In 2007 MasterCard NIT first-round action, the top-seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs (19-13) handed an 82-63 defeat to the visiting eighth-seeded Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (18-16) Tuesday evening in the Humphrey Coliseum.
State will now host the winner of tomorrow's Bradley/Providence game on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT at The Hump in round of 16 action. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Tuesday night, all-SEC junior forward Charles Rhodes led the Bulldog scoring attack, scoring 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor while tying his career high number of blocks, with four. Nearing his second career triple-double, first-team all-SEC selection Jamont Gordon contributed 18 points of his own along with nine rebounds and eight assists. Rounding out State scorers in double digits, all-SEC freshman Ben Hansbrough recorded 15 points, along with five assists.
The only MVSU player in double digits on the evening was Carl Lucas, who supplied a game-high 22 points for the Delta Devils.
MSU has now extended their single-season, all-time record number of blocks to 205 and three-point field goals made to 249.
Coach Rick Stansbury's Bulldog squad now owns a 14-3 record at home this season, an all-time record number of home wins in a season for State. MSU moves to 4-5 in NIT contests, while today's game marked State's 14th postseason tournament appearance of all time, doubling the total before ninth-year head coach Stansbury's hiring.
