Mississippi State
9-7, 1-1
Ole Miss
12-5, 0-2
Bulldogs Win Fourth Straight Over Rebels With 69-64 Victory In Oxford
January 13, 2011 | Men's Basketball
OXFORD, Miss. - Mississippi State's Dee Bost scored 25 points and teammate Renardo Sidney added a career-high 24 points as the Basketball Bulldogs shocked in-state rival Ole Miss 69-64 in a Southeastern Conference men's basketball game played Thursday night at Tad Smith Coliseum.
The homesteading Rebels did not score in the final three minutes of the contest, as MSU sank six consecutive free throws to steal the victory. Ole Miss held the upper hand for most of the evening.
Still, the Bulldogs hung tough throughout an exciting contest, which featured 13 lead changed and four tied scores. MSU could never build a lead, only enjoying a modest two-point push until the waning seconds.
MSU head coach Rick Stansbury continued his mastery of the in-state rivals, as the Bulldogs recorded a fourth straight win in the series.
In his 13th season as the Bulldogs' mentor, MSU is now 19-7 against Ole Miss, including an amazing 7-6 ledger in this building. The Bulldogs won on this floor for a third straight time.
However, none of those past victories could have been more needed than this one, which snapped a three-game losing streak and prevented what would have been only a second-ever 0-2 league start under Stansbury.
"These players deserve all the credit," Stansbury said. "We have had tough things to fight through. The win is really sweet. What a great teaching point in life. For the last two or three weeks, we have talked about how you handle adversity. We have had some tough things happen. When you learn to deal with adversity the right way, it will help you in life."
The Bulldogs improved to 9-7 overall and 1-1 in league play, while the Rebels fell to 12-5 and 0-2.
The victory came in large part from the standout efforts of Bost and Sidney. Bost scored 25 points, pulled down six rebounds and dished out eight assists in 36 minutes of play. Stansbury credited the junior point guard with improved patience, helping to create better shots for teammates.
Sidney had far-and-away his best outing in the Maroon and White. The heralded sophomore scored his 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including a pair of makes from 3-point range. Sidney had five defensive rebounds and tallied a season-best 36 minutes.
"Renardo was dog tired when it ended," Stansbury said. "We played a zone and we all know that is something that we don't normally like to do. However, that allowed us to play both Dee and Renardo for that many minutes. That meant we were going to give up some shots. However, defensively, we were great down the stretch."
The Rebels blistered that zone in the opening half of the contest with an 8-for-20 performance from 3-point range. Ole Miss actually hit four of their first six shots from downtown, energizing the crowd of 8,407 on the way to an early 14-9 lead.
The Bulldogs answered with six straight points, as a layin by Bost gave the Bulldogs a 15-14 advantage.
Ole Miss scored the next six points to take a 20-15 lead. The Rebels would stretch that lead to a game-best 27-20 advantage on Terrance Henry jumper with 4:11 left before halftime.
The Rebels again enjoyed the seven-point push after a four-point play from Dundecrous Nelson. The Bulldogs then tallied the final five points of the half, including a 30-foot 3-pointer from Bost as the half expired.
Ole Miss led 34-32 at the intermission.
In the second half, the Bulldogs grabbed a 38-36 lead on a Sidney trey with 17:14 left.
Not deterred, Ole Miss rallied right back, eventually taking a 54-47 lead on a Chris Warren layup with 9:52 remaining.
On this night though, Bost and his teammates were going to find a way to wrap this contest in Maroon and White.
A 3-pointer by Ravern Johnson - his first points of the night - brought MSU within 54-52 with 7:48 left. Johnson again answered the bell with 4:01 left, ramming home a trey for a 61-60 advantage.
Steadman Short answered with a basket for the Rebels. Bost came right back, scoring for the Bulldogs.
Short had a putback for the home team's final lead at 64-63 with 3:00 left. On the other end, Bost made an acrobatic move in the lane, drawing the foul but missing the shot. Both free throws made it 65-64.
Ole Miss would then miss its final six shots from the floor as Kodi Augustus hit four straight free throws to close out the victory.
For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 24 of 49 shots from the field (49.0 percent), 8 of 23 shots from 3-point range (34.8 percent) and 13 of 16 shots from the foul line (81.3 percent). The Rebels hit 24 of 69 shots from the field (34.8 percent), 12 of 35 shots from 3-point range (34.3 percent) and 4 of 5 shots from the foul line (80.0 percent).
MSU held a 38-33 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 16 assists and 19 turnovers, while the Rebels had 16 assists and 11 turnovers.
Augustus had a season-high and game-high 14 rebounds, while also dishing out four assists for the Bulldogs.
Ole Miss received 25 points from Chris Warren, who hit seven 3-pointers and set a new career UM mark in the process. Zach Graham added 13 points and Short added a team-high 11 rebounds to the Rebels' cause.
The Bulldogs return home for a
Sunday afternoon contest with Auburn. Game time has been shifted to 2 p.m. in
the Humphrey Coliseum. The MSU-Auburn contest will be televised regionally by
Fox Sports Net South.
