Mississippi State
23-10
Oregon
18-14
Bulldogs Rally For 76-69 Win Over Ducks; Advance To NCAA Second Round
March 21, 2008 | Men's Basketball
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NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - In his NCAA Tournament debut as a starter, Mississippi State senior forward Charles Rhodes slammed the ninth-seeded Oregon Ducks (18-14) for a career-high 34 points on 10-of-12 shooting to lead the eighth-seeded Bulldogs (23-10) to a 76-69 victory Friday evening in first-round action.
Rhodes, who has posted at least 20 points in seven of his last 10 outings, also recorded nine rebounds and knocked down 14-of-18 free throws attempted. First-team, all-SEC junior Jamont Gordon struggled from the field but led the team in rebounding and assists, with 11 and nine, respectively. Leading the nation in blocked shots, sophomore defensive presence Jarvis Varnado moved just five swats shy of matching the all-time SEC single-season record with four alterations in the game, along with eight boards.
Senior guard Malik Hairston led the Ducks with 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting, while Tajuan Porter hit 5-of-17 shots from the field to register 18 points.
The Bulldogs could find no offensive rhythm in the first half, shooting just 10-of-29 from the floor as a team and managing just 28 points, despite a 16-point, first-half effort from Rhodes. State, the league's top rebounding squad, was also beaten on the board 19-18 in the first stanza and shot 0-of-10 from long range. Oregon took a 38-28 advantage into the break.
Momentum began to shift in the middle of the second half, however, as sophomore shooting guard Barry Stewart hit the squad's first three-pointer at the 13:21 mark to spark an MSU offensive barrage that would include a 12-1 run and the squad ending the half by scoring on 14-of-22 (63.6%) shots from the floor. In the same time frame, State's nationally second-ranked field-goal percentage defense locked down Oregon, holding this year's most efficient offense in the Pac-10 to just 8-of-32 (25.0%) shooting in the half, including 2-of-21 (9.5%) from beyond the arc.
Now having reached at least the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive appearance, the Bulldogs move on to face the winner of the Friday night matchup between top-seeded Memphis (31-1) and 16th-seeded Texas-Arlington (21-11) on Sunday afternoon. The second-round contest is set for an approximate 3:45 p.m. CT tipoff in Little Rock's Alltel Arena and will be televised by CBS.
