Mississippi State
(17-9, 7-4SEC)
South Carolina
(18-6, 7-4SEC)
Bulldogs Outlast Gamecocks For 75-70 Victory
February 18, 2009 | Men's Basketball
? Official Statistics
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? Postgame Notes & Quotes (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. ? A career night from sophomore Phil Turner powered the Mississippi State Bulldogs (17-9, 7-4 Southeastern Conference) to a 75-70 victory against the South Carolina Gamecocks (18-6, 7-4) at Humphrey Coliseum Wednesday evening and maintained State's perfect 4-0 mark against the SEC's Eastern Division.
Turner notched his third career double-double and set new career highs in both rebounds, with 14, and steals, with six, to complement his 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting to break USC's modest two-game win streak .
Leading all scorers was standout sophomore Ravern Johnson with 20 points on a 4-of-10 mark from downtown along with four rebounds. SEC Freshman of the Year candidate Dee Bost added 14 points, six rebounds and five assists, and experienced junior Barry Stewart finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.
All-SEC junior Devan Downey led the USC effort with 19 points on 7-of-21 shooting, while junior forward Dominique Archie added 11 points and nine boards.
After a slow start, MSU trailed in the game 23-13 with 10:22 remaining in the first half. State then reeled off seven straight and narrowed the game to a 37-33 Gamecock advantage at halftime.
Nursing a 67-65 lead with under a minute remaining, Turner drained a trey as the game clock wound down to register the play of the game and put State up by five. Despite a couple of made threes, including an ineffectual buzzer-beater from Raley-Ross, USC couldn't overcome MSU's 5-of-6 effort from the charity stripe in the closing seconds.
“It came down to which team was going to find the most grit and determination to get this win tonight,” MSU coach Rick Stansbury said. “Our guys stepped up in the second half and made the plays we had to make. Out-rebounding them was a big stat for us.”
After being outrebounded 14-7 to begin the game, MSU beat South Carolina on the boards 45-42 on the night and held the visitors to just 5-of-17 (29.5 percent) shooting from behind the arc.
