Bulldogs Thump Rebels 84-55
* Post-Game Quotes
* Post-Game Notes
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) - Jamont Gordon scored 17 points, Reginald Delk and Dietric Slater had 16 apiece and Mississippi State routed Mississippi 84-55 on Saturday.
Charles Rhodes added 15 points for the Bulldogs (13-12, 3-9 Southeastern Conference), who shot nearly 55 percent, led by as many as 33 and won for just the second time since opening league play Jan. 7 with a victory over Arkansas.
State also denied Ole Miss its first sweep in the series since 1998. The Rebels won 75-65 on Jan. 14 for their seventh straight victory but afterward lost seven consecutive games.
Delk, who finished 5-of-6 from beyond the arc, hit three 3-pointers during a 19-0 spurt which essentially ended this one in the opening moments of the second half.
The Rebels had cut the lead to single digits when Todd Abernethy's 3 with 18:57 remaining made it 38-29.
But Delk countered seconds later with a 3-pointer to start the decisive run, and added two more 3s during the run which ended when a basket by Rhodes gave the Bulldogs a 57-29 lead with 14:44 to play. Ole Miss didn't get closer than 25 the rest of the way.
Londrick Nolen scored 14 points and Bam Doyne finished with 12 to lead the Rebels (14-11, 4-8).
Slater had 13 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who outrebounded Ole Miss 42-28.
The Bulldogs, who entered having lost nine of 10, were in control for much of the first half. State received 12 points from Slater, shot 48 percent and led by as many as 13 in the half.
Delk's 3-pointer with 2:53 left gave the Bulldogs their first double-digit lead, 34-22, and twin brother Richard Delk later hit a 3 from the corner to push the Mississippi State lead to 37-24. The Bulldogs led 38-26 at halftime.
Both teams wore retro-style uniforms as part of a weeklong celebration of the SEC's history. Ole Miss wore blue replicas of its uniform from 1978-92, while the Bulldogs' whites were from the late 1960s and early 1970s.
POST-GAME QUOTES
Mississippi State Head Coach Rick Stansbury
Opening Comments...
"Something I've been saying over the past several weeks is I thought our team was getting better - even though it hasn't shown on the W's and L's. We've had some road games we've had bad stretches in, but I saw a lot of positive things in those games. Tonight, we put together a total team effort offensively and defensively. We came out to practice yesterday, and we basically had to cut some things out because of the team's energy. For our kids to have the attitude and energy after losing some games when they're not used to it, it tells you a lot about the make-up of this basketball team. That's why we won the game. They've continued to work hard, and good things happen to them. Today, we put 40 minutes together from start to finish. Everybody that played added to the win. We needed our bench to play because Ole Miss plays a lot of people. We knew we couldn't beat them with the five or six players we had been playing. We made a decision before the game to play everyone. Everyone off the bench played big for us."
On the play of Dietric Slater...
"You can go down the statistics sheet and look at the starters, but there's one guy that stands out - Dietric Slater. He was around the basketball during the entire game. He had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and one other thing he did well was neutralize (Dwayne) Curtis. It was a great team effort. Rod (Barnes) is doing a great job at Ole Miss. They're improved and always well-coached. But tonight, it belonged to the Bulldogs, and I'm proud of our kids for that."
On his team's play...
"I've always said in order for us to beat some good teams, those two guys (Slater and Reginald Delk) need to score for us. Jamont (Gordon), Charles (Rhodes) and Jamall (Edmondson) are pretty consistent. When those other two guys can give us eight or nine points, it makes us better. If we can get 16 out of them, then what happen today may happen again. Both of them were huge for us. Reginald stepped up and separated the game in the second half. We needed a game from him like that. His biggest improvements have come defensively. I don't remember him getting beat against the dribble at all today. Once he starts relaxing more, his game will come. Wesley Morgan gave us great energy. Charles picked up two fouls with eight minutes to go in the first half. We finished the half with Wesley and Vernon (Goodridge). Michael Boler gave us great defensive minutes during the first half. We always ask guys off the bench to add not subtract. (Bernard) Rimmer gave us good minutes, too."
On the team's urgency before the game...
"Urgency is the next game, and the next game was Ole Miss. If it had been another opponent, would we have played that hard? I don't know. Today was a special effort. I thought during last game here against Auburn, we showed improvement. I thought our defense was as good as it can be today. We went on a 24-3 run in the second half. The one shot they made was a long three-pointer. That's what you have to do."
On stopping Dwayne Curtis and Todd Abernethy...
"I thought we guarded. Ole Miss does such a great job moving that ball around and feeding off the dribble and getting it to the post. We didn't get beat off the dribble. I thought our kids did a great job doubling up the post. We've been working on it all year. I gave the challenge to Jamont Gordon yesterday after practice. When we played at Ole Miss, (Todd) Abernethy was the key to their game. I thought we did a great job guarding him off the ball screen today. I thought Jamont stayed down in his stance on help-side. He never lost him all night. I think he (Abernethy) finished with three points. That's a key to the game."
Reginald Delk
On the feel of winning against the rival...
"It was a great feeling, especially to win at home."
On having gained so much experience this year and not really being a "freshman" anymore...
"I am trying to be consistent. Some days I don't shoot good or some days I don't do other things good. I just have to bring my drive, and do other things to help the team."
On what the SEC (player wise) has to offer...
"I thought it would be tough. And I was right. If you think it's going to be tough it will be tough."
On being a freshman, but having his brother here to help him...
"He helps because he can tell me what I'm doing wrong. He can look at me on the court and see what I can't see."
Charles Rhodes
On the temper...
"I just had a lot of emotion for this game. I was just really hyped up and pumped up. And history will continue."
On guarding Curtis...
"I thought my teammates did a great job. We didn't let them (Curtis and Abernathy) get into their plays, so my teammates did a wonderful job."
On preparing for this game so what happened in Oxford didn't happen here...
"We just studied film. The things we did wrong the first time, we made sure we didn't do the same mistakes. We played well on defense and trapped them (Curtis and Abernathy)."
On the energy level of the team...
"I think right now our chemistry has bonded, and I hope our chemistry keeps going and going."
On the games coming up..."We have to stay consistent, that's what our team needs right now. If we keep playing with consistency, big things can happen for this team."
Jamont Gordon
On what the key to the win was...
"Staying with them and have confidence."
On a toned down practice yesterday due to the extreme energy level coming into this game...
"It's our rival game. They beat us over there. They haven't beat us here in a couple of years and we came out with a lot of energy and weren't going to let them beat us here."
On such good defensive play from the team...
"We were just ready to play."
Dietric Slater
On if this game boosted confidence and energy...
"Of course we thought we were going to win this game. It basically built our confidence up a lot. We knew we were going to beat Ole Miss. They came on the court talking, but we knew better."
On a more controlled play...
"I think our confidence level is extremely high and this game helped it out a little."
On the next few games...
"The next three to four games is going to be a different team. It's the end of the season and we are going to come out and win."
On having your first career double-double...
"It was great. It feels good. I kind of want some more of those."
Mississippi Head Coach Rod Barnes
Opening Comments...
"I'd like to start off by thanking God for giving us another opportunity. I think our players handled coming here and preparing for the game well. Mississippi State played great. We didn't play as well, especially in the second half. It was one of those days when things don't go right for you and they go for the other team. Unfortunately, it happened to be an opportunity that we thought we could win the game. I thought Mississippi State shot the ball well. I just thought they played better than we did and I thought it snowballed on us. We couldn't stop it. We've got to keep our heads up and keep fighting. We've still got many games to play. We've got to go to Kentucky, which is not an easy place to play. We've got to regroup and go play the way we are capable of playing. I thought for about 18-19 minutes, it was a really good basketball game. Their team making threes separated us. We came out the second half and had some opportunities. We just missed way too many easy open shots today. Basically, I can't explain that part of it. I've got to give Rick and his team credit."
On State guarding Todd Abernethy...
"I thought they were (guarding him more). On a lot of plays that we started running they double-teamed us. They tried to trap him. They tried to make things really tough on him. They attacked him. I thought they really went after him. That hurt us at times. They just played better than we did."
On what needs to be worked on next week...
"It's mental at this point. We are in a position now where kids know the plays. They have been through them enough. One thing is understanding how physical (the game is). Now, as we are getting towards the end of the year we are kind of falling back into letting us play. I thought Mississippi State was more aggressive in some plays and driving to the basket. That's basically it. We attacked Arkansas and we won a game. Mississippi State attacked us and they won a game. Now, from a mental standpoint, I've got to get the guys ready to go attack Kentucky, and we'll see what happens."
On factors playing into the second half...
"I thought we weren't really shooting the ball well in the first half. We had some good shots. Todd Abernethy had a couple. Bam Doyne had a couple. Even when we got the ball inside we had some really easy shots that we didn't make, even though it didn't hurt us that bad at that point because they didn't come down and necessarily make shots. In the second half we missed some shots and they went out and made threes which helped them build confidence, so they shot the ball well. Playing a small line-up they were faster than we were on some occasions in transition. We want it to be a half-court game, but when you are missing shots it's hard to keep that from happening. If we make a basket then it slows them down. We just couldn't get shots to go down."
POST-GAME NOTES
- With today's 84-55 win over Mississippi, the Bulldogs remain undefeated at home (8-0) against the Rebels during the Rick Stansbury era... The Bulldogs have now prevailed in 21 of the last 23 State-Ole Miss contests played in Starkville dating back to the 1983-84 season... Overall in the series, the Bulldogs have now won 13 of the last 16 games against Ole Miss, including eight straight wins from Feb. 23, 2002 through Feb. 26, 2005... Coach Stansbury is now 13-4 in his career versus Rod Barnes' Ole Miss clubs.
- MSU's 84 points were the most by a Bulldog club since this year's 104-80 win over Jacksonville State, Dec. 15, in Jackson... The scoring total was State's highest in an SEC game since claiming an 87-76 win at Ole Miss last season (Jan. 8, 2005).
- This afternoon's 54.9 percent field-goal shooting and 47.1 percent three-point shooting efforts were the best for a State team against SEC competition this season... The previous State season bests in league play were 49.0 percent overall shooting at Ole Miss and 35.3 percent three-point shooting in its home loss to LSU... The last time MSU shot as well as 54.9 percent from the field in an SEC game was in the team's 87-76 win at Ole Miss (30-53 FGs for 56.6%) last season.
- The Bulldogs owned a 38-26 halftime lead in today's game and have now prevailed in all SEC contests this season (also home wins over Arkansas and Auburn) in which they've held the advantage at the intermission... MSU has trailed at the break in each of its nine SEC losses on the year.
- Today's 84-55 win over Ole Miss marks State's largest margin of victory in an SEC game since posting a 90-53 home win over Auburn in last year's SEC opener (Jan. 5, 2005)... Today's 29-point triumph also marks the Bulldogs' largest margin of victory over an Ole Miss team since claiming a 94-52 home win over the Rebels during the 1994-95 campaign.
- Junior swingman Dietric Slater registered his first career double-double with 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds this afternoon... His previous career-best rebounding effort was nine boards against Arkansas earlier this season.