Mississippi State
4-0
Florida Atlantic
3-4
State Cagers Drop Nailbiter To FAU, 61-59
November 30, 2010 | Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State's season-opening four-game win streak was snapped Tuesday night, as the Basketball Bulldogs dropped a hard-fought 61-59 decision to Florida Atlantic in the Humphrey Coliseum.
For MSU, Brian Bryant missed two free throws with 1.5 seconds left in regulation. The Bulldogs received a deadball rebound after the second miss. However, a missed desperation shot by Kodi Augustus was waved off as time expired.
“Give Florida Atlantic credit,” MSU head coach Rick Stansbury said. “They lost a (13-point) decision at Florida. So we knew they would not come in here and be intimidated. They made plays down the stretch to be able to pull out the win.”
The Bulldogs (4-1) started strong, sprinting to a 13-3 advantage slightly more than three minutes into the contest. MSU continued to use a balance offensive attack and the season's best defensive effort to run the advantage to 25-13 with 8:00 left in the opening half.
A 3-point basket by Ravern Johnson placed MSU on top 33-20 with 3:53 left in the half. From there, a couple of lapses hurt on the defensive end. A 3-point basket by Shavar Richardson as the half expired, brought the Owls within 35-29 at the intermission.
“I thought we came out with good energy and focus,” Stansbury said. “Other than two mistakes there in the final minute, it was our best defensive half of the season. However, the margin for error with this team is so small. We can't have critical mistakes like that. The points there at the end of the half were huge.”
An Elgin Bailey layup ran the Maroon and White advantage back out to 43-34 with 14:24 left in regulation. From there, the Owls' transition to a zone defense sparked a 14-3 run.
A layup by Richardson gave the Owls (4-4) their first lead of the second half at 46-45 with 10:36 left. A dunk by Brett Royster moved the Owls to a three-point lead.
MSU reclaimed a 53-52 lead on an Augustus dunk with 4:40 left.
Still, the Owls were not deterred. A Royster dunk gave the guests the lead for good, at 57-55 with 1:49 left. The Bulldogs only missed six free throws; however, that total included the final four they shot in the last 43 seconds of play.
“The zone defense really hurt us in the second half,” Stansbury said. “We had some opportunities inside, but we have to create more of those.”
For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 22 of 53 shots from the field (41.5 percent), 3 of 16 shots from 3-point range (18.8 percent) and 12 of 18 shots from the foul line (66.7 percent). The Owls hit 23 of 54 shots from the field (42.6 percent), 3 of 11 shots from 3-point range (27.3 percent) and 12 of 18 shots from the foul line (66.7 percent).
MSU held a 35-34 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had seven assists and five turnovers, while the Owls had seven assists and four turnovers.
Kore White paced Florida Atlantic with 18 points. Greg Gantt and Royster, each added 12 points. Royster also had a team-high nine rebounds.
Ravern Johnson paced the Bulldogs with 18 points, including only four points and no 3-pointers in the final half. Augustus added 13 points, while Bailey scored 11 points. Augustus also pulled down 10 rebounds, claiming his fourth double-double of the young campaign.
The Bulldogs now take a break from game competition for final exams. MSU will host East Tennessee State at 7 p.m. Dec. 11.
