Mississippi State
(8-5)
San Diego
(7-7)
Toreros Steal Overtime Win From Bulldogs, 64-61
December 30, 2008 | Men's Basketball
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Tying a season high with 17 points, junior shooting guard Barry Stewart hit 6-of-7 free throws, dished out four assists and registered two steals to lead MSU while freshman point guard Dee Bost put up 13 points and stole the ball a season-high four times. Sophomore Phil Turner also notched a career high with eight rebounds.
All-America candidate Jarvis Varnado recorded the team's only double-double, his fifth of the year, with 10 points and 13 rebounds. The junior also blocked six shots, placing him as just the fifth player in SEC history to register at least 300 blocks in a career with a current total of 302. Varnado currently leads the nation with 6.0 blocks per game, helping MSU to also lead the nation in that category with 10.2 swats per contest.
Sophomore guard Trumaine Johnson led the Toreros with 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting while senior center Gyno Pomare also pulled down a double-double after scoring 10 points and claiming 15 rebounds.
After trailing 25-24 at halftime, State put together several small runs to gain a 40-32 lead with 14:23 remaining in regulation, the largest MSU lead surrendered in a loss this season.
A pair of Stewart free throws put MSU ahead 53-49 with 1:01 remaining while Johnson responded with two hits from the charity stripe to pull within two at the 0:49.3 mark. After a quick Turner turnover, Pomare tipped the ball in to tie the score at 53-all. State came out of a timeout with 14.9 seconds left to score, but a missed Stewart jumper and failed putback from Varnado forced overtime.
The two teams traded buckets for the majority of the extra stanza, as
After a missed Stewart jumper, Varnado was fouled on the rebound but drained just one attempt from the stripe as State trailed 62-61 with nine seconds left in overtime. Pomare then broke away from a full-court trap to place
“When you have opportunities to put somebody away, you have to do that,” MSU coach Rick Stansbury said. “We had two blaring turnovers staring at us at the end of this game that kept us from doing so. We left some free throws on the court, and combine that with the turnovers and we could not compensate for our mistakes to beat a good team like
The Bulldogs will compete for the first time in 2009 by hosting
