Bulldogs Head To Auburn Looking For Second Straight Conference Win
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STARKVILLE, Miss. - Riding the momentum gained from Saturday's impressive 84-55 home victory over in-state rival Mississippi, the Bulldogs of Mississippi State (13-12, 3-9) bid for their first back-to-back SEC wins of the season by traveling to the Plains to take on the Auburn Tigers (10-13, 2-10) Wednesday evening. Tip-off for the 125th series renewal is set for 7 p.m. at 10,500-seat Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum. The game can be heard on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Channel 147) via Auburn's radio broadcast.
As part of the league's designated SEC Throwback Week (Feb. 18-26) festivities, the Bulldogs will be donning their maroon retro-style road uniforms during Wednesday's contest at Auburn. This week's game against the Tigers will mark Rick Stansbury's 250th career game overall and 125th regular-season SEC contest as head coach of the Bulldogs.
On the heels of season-best efforts against SEC competition for points scored (84), field-goal percentage (54.9%) and three-point percentage (47.1%) in Saturday's 29-point home triumph over Ole Miss, the Mississippi State Bulldogs are 13-12 overall and 3-9 in SEC play on the year. Also with league home wins over SEC West foes Arkansas and Auburn this season, MSU will be looking for its first conference road victory of the year this week in Auburn.
The Bulldogs continue to be paced by all-SEC candidates Jamont Gordon (13.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg & 4.0 apg) and Charles Rhodes (13.2 ppg & 7.3 rpg), who are combining to average nearly 27 points and 14 rebounds per game between them. A three-time SEC Freshman of the Week recipient on the year, Gordon joins Louisiana-Lafayette senior Dwayne Mitchell as the only two players nationally (all classes) currently averaging at least 13.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game for the season. Averaging 16.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per conference game on the year, Rhodes has scored in double figures in 13 straight games and has made 50 percent or better of his field goals in 10 of 12 league outings.
Guided by second-year head coach Jeff Lebo, the Auburn Tigers are 10-13 overall and 2-10 in league action after dropping a 65-61 home decision to SEC West-leading LSU this past Saturday. Auburn's pair of conference wins this season have both come at home against Mississippi (58-50) and Georgia (66-65). Expected to start four freshmen against the Bulldogs, Auburn is led in scoring on the year by senior guard Ronny LeMelle (12.4 ppg). Freshmen Rasheem Barrett and Josh Dollard follow at 11.0 and 9.1 points per contest, respectively, for the youthful Tigers.
Having claimed a 71-53 home win over Auburn earlier this month (Feb. 4), the Bulldogs will be looking for their fourth season series sweep of the Tigers in the last five campaigns. State's previous eight-game series winning streak over AU was snapped a year ago (Feb. 5, 2005) on the Plains, as the homestanding Tigers posted a 90-76 triumph over visiting MSU.
Looking for its first victory of the season over an SEC Eastern Division team, Mississippi State returns home to play host to Georgia this Saturday afternoon on the MSU campus. Tip-off time for the 95th all-time series renewal of the "Battle of the Basketball Bulldogs" is set for 4 p.m. CT at Humphrey Coliseum. All conference members will once again sport their respective retro-style uniforms this coming weekend as part of the SEC Throwback Week celebration.