12-10 Bulldogs Head To South Carolina To Meet 12-10 Gamecocks
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STARKVILLE, Miss. - A pair of teams with identical overall records on theseason will go head-to-head on Saturday evening in the Palmetto State, asthe visiting Mississippi State Bulldogs (12-10, 2-7) square off against theGamecocks of South Carolina (12-10, 3-6) in Columbia. Tip-off time for the16th all-time series renewal is set for 6 p.m. ET at USC's 18,000-seatColonial Center.
The contest will be televised live by FSN South/Sunshine Network, with thegame also airing on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Channel 123) via SouthCarolina's radio broadcast. South Carolina is also expected to recognizeSaturday as part of the National Association of Basketball Coaches' (NABC)Coaches vs. Cancer Day.
Having taken the midweek off from competition after snapping theirseven-game losing skid with last Saturday's 71-53 home triumph over Auburn,coach Rick Stansbury's Bulldogs are now 12-10 overall and 2-7 in league playon the season. The recently snapped seven-game losing skid marked MSU'slongest such streak since incurring both eight-game and nine-game losingstrings during the 1986-87 campaign in Richard Williams' first season at theState helm.
Three-time SEC Freshman of the Week Jamont Gordon presently leads MSU andall league rookies in scoring at 13.7 points per game, while also averaging6.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists an outing on the year. On the heels of hissecond straight double-double with 21 points and a career-high 19 reboundsversus Auburn, sophomore forward Charles Rhodes has raised his season'sper-game averages to 12.8 points and 7.2 rebounds after averaging 17.3points and 9.1 boards per contest during the season's first nine conferenceoutings. Senior guard Jamall Edmondson also averages in double figures at13.3 points per game for the Bulldogs.
The reigning NIT Champion South Carolina Gamecocks are likewise 12-10overall on the season (3-6 in SEC play) after claiming an impressive 71-67road victory over sixth-ranked Florida this past Wednesday in Gainesville.Guided by fifth-year head coach Dave Odom, USC is paced in scoring by theveteran backcourt tandem of senior Tarence Kinsey and junior Tre' Kelley,who average 15.2 and 11.5 points per contest, respectively. Junior forwardRenaldo Balkman adds 9.8 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds per game.
The Bulldogs own a 10-5 all-time lead over South Carolina in a series thatdates back to the 1991-92 campaign when the Gamecocks joined theSoutheastern Conference. MSU has prevailed in each of the last fiveregular-season meetings, including last year's 73-65 home win over Carolinaand a come-from-behind 79-75 overtime road victory over the Gamecocks twoseasons ago at USC's Colonial Center. Eleven of the previous 15 hardwoodmeetings between Mississippi State and South Carolina have been decided bysingle digits, including an average scoring margin of 5.0 points per game inthe seven prior Columbia meetings.
Mississippi State enters the weekend winless in four SEC road games thisseason and is likewise 0-4 against SEC Eastern Division teams on the year.