Bulldogs Crush Monmouth, Advance To Second Round Of NCAAs
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| Winsome Frazier floats a jumper over Monmouth guard Tyler Azzarelli during the first half. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter) |
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Mississippi State's superior talent turned a close game into a blowout, just as the Bulldogs coach thought might happen.
Lawrence Roberts scored 19 points in limited action, and the second-seeded Bulldogs outlasted Monmouth to win 85-52 in the first round of the Atlanta Regional on Friday night.
The 15th-seeded Hawks shot their way within four points late in the first half, but Mississippi State pulled away by controlling both ends of the floor. The Bulldogs tore off a 22-5 run in less than 10 minutes, and cruised to their largest margin of victory of the season.
"In the second half, I thought our quickness and our athleticism separated us a little bit, and that's what it's supposed to do. It doesn't always happen that way," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said.
Mississippi State's domination was written all over the statistics: 54 percent shooting to 35 percent with a rebounding advantage of 47-20 -- 13-3 on the offensive end. The Bulldogs had 16 second-chance points, 14 on fastbreaks, 40 in the paint and 31 off 17 turnovers.
The Bulldogs (26-3) advanced to meet the winner of the Louisville-Xavier game played later Friday night. Mississippi State was upset as a five seed by Butler in the first round of last year's tournament.
Branden Vincent scored 10 of his 14 points in the game-breaking run. He also grabbed 11 rebounds for his fourth career double-double.
"I knew they were going to sag off me, because I'm probably the least aggressive offensive player of the starters," said Vincent, who made all four shots and was 6-for-10 from the line. "So, I wanted to mix it up and change my style to confuse their defense a bit."
| Branden Vincent has his shot rejected by Monmouth's Brian Boxler during the first half. (AP Photo/Scott Audette) |
Shane Power had 13 points while Gary Ervin scored 11. Timmy Bowers had nine assists, tying his career high, and six rebounds to go with five points and three steals.
Roberts didn't appear to be bothered by an ankle injury that kept him out of practice this week. But when the Southeastern Conference's player of the year was raked across the face with 10:43 to go, he sat for good.
"He only played 24 minutes, but he was very productive when he was in there," Stansbury said. "It was good to see him get up and down the floor, and get some wind back in him."
Not long after Roberts was pulled, the Bulldogs had four freshman and a sophomore on the floor as Stansbury emptied his bench. All but two of the 13 players who saw action scored.
Monmouth (21-12) hasn't won a tournament game in three appearances, but coach Dave Calloway hopes to gain some motivation from the latest loss.
"We went to the tournament three years ago, and the following year we were picked to win the league -- and we came in fourth," Calloway said. "That can't happen next year. We have to use this as a learning experience."
Dwayne Byfield scored 12 points to lead Monmouth, the Northeast Conference champions. Blake Hamilton was held to six points, almost 11 less than his average.
The Hawks stayed close for a while, making 12 of their first 20 shots, including 7-for-10 on 3-pointers. With five minutes left before halftime, Byfield hit back-to-back 3s and Marques Alston's layup cut the deficit to 36-32.
"At that point, you have to buckle down, run your offense and be solid," Byfield said. "But we didn't do that, and they capitalized on it."