Bulldogs Get Back In Win Column With 71-53 Victory Over Auburn
* Official Statistics
* Postgame Quotes
* Postgame Notes
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) - Charles Rhodes had 21 points and 19 rebounds, and Mississippi State snapped its longest losing streak in nearly two decades with a 71-53 victory over Auburn on Saturday night.
Jamont Gordon had 16 points and Jamall Edmondson added 13 to help the Bulldogs (12-10, 2-7 Southeastern Conference) end a seven-game losing streak which was the longest of Rick Stansbury's tenure as head coach.
The Bulldogs led by as many as 22 in winning a matchup of the league's worst teams.
Mississippi State scored 10 straight points early in the second half, then pulled away late with a 12-0 run highlighted by two 3-pointers by Edmondson.
State held Auburn scoreless for nearly six minutes down the stretch to clinch its first SEC victory since the Bulldogs beat Arkansas on Jan. 7.
Rhodes had his second straight strong game, duplicating his 21-point performance three days earlier in a loss to Kentucky.
Ronny LeMelle led Auburn (9-10, 1-7) with 15 points. Rasheem Barrett had 12 points and Frank Tolbert added 10 for the Tigers, who fell into last place in the West and have lost two straight since their only league win came a week ago against Georgia.
Mississippi State entered with its longest losing streak since the Richard Williams-led Bulldogs lost nine in a row in 1986-87.
It was also a matchup of two of the youngest teams in the league. The Tigers started four freshmen while Mississippi State started two.
The Bulldogs outrebounded Auburn 49-33.
Postgame Quotes
Mississippi State Head Coach Rick Stansbury
Opening Comments...
"I'm proud of the way our kids have responded in the last two weeks. That is the reason we were able to win this basketball game tonight. In the last two weeks, even though it did not show up that we got a 'W', I saw our team getting a little bit better since we went to that small line-up. I thought we were better at Alabama and better against Kentucky. Our kids have had a great spirit about it, kept a great attitude. have come to practice with the right work ethic and have stayed together.
"Auburn came into this game probably playing their best basketball of the year. They beat Georgia at home and went to LSU and had a three-point game with seven minutes to go. Jeff (Lebo) has done a great job with his young team. They are going to be very good.
"I thought the difference in the game was that we had a guy on the inside that was dominant. Charles Rhodes was dominant offensively and defensively. That is where it started for us tonight."
On the play of Bernard Rimmer...
"Rimmer (Bernard) brings great athleticism and the ability to defend. He has a good basketball IQ. He is not looking to do anything but the little things to help us win."
On what was more impressive from Charles Rhodes - points or rebounds..."Rebounds always, there is never a choice. Ask him that question and I bet his response will be rebounding. He has been programmed correctly. He got everyone of those tonight and got them in crowds. Getting 19 rebounds is a pretty impressive stat."
On Charles Rhodes...
"He did not play a lot last year and when he did play, we weren't depending on him to be our main guy to score and rebound. I don't know when the last game he played that was a bad game. It hasn't been a SEC game to my knowledge. He has been very consistent for us."
Bernard Rimmer
On getting to play...
"I am just trying to get the chance to show coach that I can play a little bit. I want to stay out there a little longer; I'm not worried about scoring points."
On playing his role...
"Right now, that is what I should do. I'm young and a freshman. I just want to play hard, get some rebounds, play defense, whatever I can to do stay out there."
On the importance of winning tonight...
"It was bad losing seven games, but we are trying to get on a role and stay with it."
On improving so much...
"I have been working hard in practice and sticking with it. Coach told me it was coming and he was right."
On the small line-up...
"Yeah I jumped on it a little bit. Playing in there with Vernon and Charles in front of me, I just try to get in there with the little guys and get after it."
Dietric Slater
On the lead at half time...
"At half time, Coach (Stansbury) came in and told us that we had them where we wanted them and that was the first time this year going into the locker room ahead. Coach also told us that we had one thing we wanted, we just have to keep the lead."
Jamont Gordon
On the game slowing down for him personally...
"I've seen a lot of things change from the beginning of the season. Coach and I have been watching film and that has been helping me a lot."
On the atmosphere of the locker room after the game...
"Everybody was jumping around, smiling, and hugging."
Vernon Goodridge
On his role increasing over the last few games...
"I have to welcome it. He put me out there for a reason. I have to keep doing what he knows I can do."
Charles Rhodes
On if this was his best game...
"I have to let ya'll judge that."
On the win instead of the loss...
"I feel good tonight. I've been stressing it for a month, and now that I've got my win we just need to build from this."
On the feel of the locker room...
"It was different. To win, it's every team's goal, and we got the victory. Everyone was celebrating, but I wasn't celebrating because we have to build from this win. We just can't win and become inconsistent, we have to stay consistent."
On the feeling going into the game...
"I went into this game and played real hard. I try to get a win every night but sometimes we come up short, but tonight we did real good."
On the break in the schedule...
"I think it's a good time for me since I injured my ankle, so now I can get more treatment and for other players that are banged up and stuff it gives them more time to get treatment too."
On the other players coming off the bench to see more playing time...
"They have to play harder and play smarter. They have to know the scouting report for the game and give us a lot of productive minutes. They will come along and gain experience and be ok."
Auburn Head Coach Jeff Lebo
Opening Comments...
"We missed shots. We had some good looks - especially in the first half, I thought. You just have to make them when you're as small as we are. We had a lack of depth with two freshmen in there. We didn't have an inside game. Charles Rhodes just dominated the game. He was terrific. I knew Mississippi State would play well this game. They're off next week, and they put a lot of effort in this game when they thought they could win at home. The real difference in the game was Rhodes, and he dominated every spot - inside, on the glass, offensive boards and defensive rebounds. He played above everyone else in the game, and that was the difference."
On the Auburn foul trouble...
"We're small. We have to play aggressively. We can't back off because we're too little. We fouled too much. We have to be able to play aggressively and put it up on the board. There were a couple (fouls) 50 feet from the basket. That gets them one closer to the one-in-one and two-shot fouls. We don't play the brightest by any stretch of the imagination. We just make some plays. If I had any hair, it would be out. We foul way too much. All of that has to do with us being small. We really have to play that way, but we have to be smarter."
Postgame Notes
- Tonight's win snapped Mississippi State's seven-game losing skid, the longest of the Rick Stansbury era and longest since the 1986-87 season.
- State has now won nine of the last 10 MSU-Auburn meetings dating back to Feb. 17, 2001... The Bulldogs extended their series home winning streak against the Tigers to six straight games, winning by an average margin of 23.0 points per home meeting dating back to 2000-01.
- Tonight's 18-point victory over the Tigers marked MSU's largest margin of victory in an SEC contest since claiming last year's 80-55 home triumph over Arkansas (Jan. 15, 2005).
- MSU's 33-26 advantage at the break marked the first time since this year's Arkansas game (69-67 MSU home win on Jan. 7) in which the Bulldogs held the halftime lead... Five times in the previous seven games, the Bulldogs trailed by double digits at the intermission.
- The Bulldogs owned a +16 (49-33) advantage on the boards against Auburn this evening, marking the most rebounds and largest rebound margin for an MSU team since outboarding Jacksonville State, 56-31, earlier this season (Dec. 15, 2005) in Jackson... The +16 rebound margin tonight was State's largest in SEC play since outrebounding Arkansas, 47-31, in last year's 57-55 road win over the Razorbacks (March 1, 2005).
- Tonight marked the first game the Bulldogs had four players score in double figures in the same game since their 69-67 home win over Arkansas in the team's SEC season opener on Jan. 7.
- Continuing his red-hot SEC play, State sophomore Charles Rhodes tallied 21 points (8-of-13 FGs) and a career-high 19 rebounds (12 points and 10 rebounds at the half) to record the third double-double of his career and second-straight double-double... Rhodes has now been the team's leading (or co-leading) scorer on 15 occasions this year... He has also been MSU's leading (or co-leading) rebounder 10 times this season... The Jackson, Miss., native entered the game as the only player in the SEC to rank among the league's top seven statistical leaders in scoring, rebounding and field-goal percentage in conference games only... Along with having three double-doubles this season (Auburn, Kentucky & Jacksonville State), Rhodes has also come within a single rebound of posting four additional double-doubles this season (George Mason, Arkansas, Florida & LSU)... Rhodes has now hit 50 percent of his field goals in eight of nine SEC games this season (6-of-14 FGs at Alabama)... Rhodes is now averaging 17.3 points (on 57.3% FGs) and 9.1 rebounds per outing against SEC competition this season.
- The Bulldogs will not play midweek before hitting the road for a pair of upcoming games away from home (Feb. 11 at South Carolina and Feb. 15 at LSU)... MSU's next home game will be two weeks from today (Feb. 18 vs. Ole Miss in a 2:30 p.m. game to be televised by ESPN Classic).