Dogs Roll Past Tide 71-58
* Post-Game Quotes
* Post-Game Notes
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) - Jamont Gordon scored 17 points, Charles Rhodes added 16 and Mississippi State beat Alabama 71-58 on Saturday.
The Bulldogs (15-14, 5-11 Southeastern Conference) won their fourth straight home game, clinched the West's No. 4 seed in the upcoming league tournament and beat 'Bama for the first time since 2004.
The Crimson Tide (17-11, 10-6), which entered having clinched the West's No. 2 seed, only briefly led in the first half. Mississippi State was up 37-29 at halftime and never trailed in the second half.
Alabama tied it at 39-all on Jermareo Davidson's basket with 15:56 to play. But Richard Delk hit a 3-pointer 18 seconds later to start a 15-5 run which pushed the Bulldogs' lead into double figures.
Piotr Stelmach's 3 with 10:20 left - his second during the spurt - gave Mississippi State a 54-44 lead. Alabama didn't get closer than five the rest of the way.
Reginald Delk finished with 10 points for the Bulldogs. Gordon added eight assists and Rhodes was 8-of-12 shooting.
Davidson had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Crimson Tide, which had its two-game winning streak snapped. Alonzo Gee added 15 points and Richard Hendrix finished with 12.
Mississippi State, which entered as the SEC's worst team from behind the arc, made 9-of-20 attempts from 3-point range. The Bulldogs shot nearly 48 percent and held Alabama to just 4-of-14 shooting from 3.
Mississippi State essentially was missing two key guards. Dietric Slater, who tore a knee ligament three days earlier in a loss at Arkansas, didn't play while senior Jamall Edmondson, who is battling pneumonia and a groin injury, played only the final 27 seconds of his last regular-season game at Humphrey Coliseum.
Mississippi State Head Coach Rick Stansbury
Opening Comments:
"Let me first say how much we appreciate the way the crowd and students have stayed behind this basketball team this season. I said Thursday night on our radio show that for us to win this basketball game, the crowd would be the reason why we won it. They were the difference in this game tonight."
"I don't know if I have ever been more proud of a group of guys from a standpoint of what they have been through, all the adjustments they have had to make, the ability to stay together and stay positive. We've had teams that have won a lot more games than this bunch, but we have never had a team that has had to do the things this team had to overcome and being young at the same time. It tells you what kind of people we have and the character that they have. I am just proud to be their coach because these guys had every opportunity to lay down all season long."
On the seniors:
"Wesley Morgan stepped up and played huge today, nine points and four rebounds. I thought Michael Boler started the basketball game with great confidence and defended well. He stepped up and made a couple of shots. He is in that rotation now without Dietric Slater. Everyone knows how well we have been playing with Dietric here at home."
On defensive effort:
"We played hard. Alabama is huge on the inside and they have guys that can shoot the basketball. I think, for the most part, we could not have done a better job on Steele (Ronald), he has seven points. I thought Jamont Gordon and Richard Delk did as good of a job that you can do on Steele."
On the SEC Tournament match up:
"It doesn't matter at this point. Today assured us the four-seed and assured us a winning season and opportunities to do other things. Georgia, South Carolina - It doesn't matter, we are just happy to be playing that first game at noon on Thursday."
MSU Player Quotes
Jamont Gordon
On if this win was expected:
"We always expect to win, but sometimes it doesn't come out like that."
On beating Alabama:
"It was very special, especially for the players and for the coaches. I think they have beaten us the last four times so it was a big win."
On the locker room atmosphere after this win:
"Everybody was jumping around, hugging, dancing, doing everything."
On his defense and the steals he made:
"It was a hard job, but I stayed down and didn't go for any of his fakes."
On the lay-up that broke their momentum:
"I just got the ball and drove in and made the shot."
Richard Delk
On playing like a team:
"We needed this win. Going into the tournament, we needed it."
On the start of the game:
"It was senior night. Boler came out playing good and Wes (Morgan) came out playing good, so we had a really good start."
On the defense:
"I just go out there and do what we do in practice - try to learn what their plays are and just give it 100 percent."
Michael Boler
On starting the game:
"It was something that I hadn't done since high school. It was a rush. Coach told me yesterday at practice that I was going to start. The wait was unbelievable. I was just ready to get out there and get the game started and play as hard as I could and hopefully pull out the win, and thankfully we did tonight."
On missing his first shot but hitting the next three pointer:
"Jamont gave me my first shot but it was a little hard off the back iron, but I didn't really hesitate to shoot the ball. If I'm open, I'll shoot it. He passed it back to me again and I hit it."
On not having outstanding stats but doing very well:
"We come in and play our roles. We play solid defense, and when the time comes to make the shots and win the games, we have to step up and make those plays. That is what coach expects us to do, so we do the best we can."
On picking up the slack since Dietric Slater is out:
"Dietric has been hot the last few weeks. He had three double-doubles in a row. Losing a player like him is a killer for us, but everybody has to step up. He has been playing so well, so we have to pick up where he left off."
Reginald Delk
On it being senior night and making sure they got a win:
"Oh yes. It was Alabama, so we wanted to go out there and make sure we got the win."
On how big it was to get the three at the beginning to set the tone for the game:
"It was big and our team continued to knock down some big shots. We all got in to it and did well."
On the "send off" of the seniors:
"I loved watching that. We beat Alabama in a good wayon our home court."
On what they have had to go through to get over Dietric and other players:
"We have lost a lot of guys. When Dietric went down, we just had to stay in a fight and not give up."
On the momentum going into the SEC tournament:
"There is definitely momentum. We can play with anybody."
Charles Rhodes
On his feeling going into the SEC tournament:
"We feel great. It was a win over our rival. It was a big win for us and I just hope we continue to gain momentum."
On the energy from the crowd:
"There was a lot of energy. Everything wasn't on me. Everybody stepped up and played hard, and we came out with the win."
Wesley Morgan
On the game and his feelings:
"It feels great to be able to contribute to this team. This was a big win for us. We are young and inexperienced and for us to come out and play like we did in our last game was great."
On having guys out:
"Everybody just played and stepped up. Somebody else had to step up and help the team. This is something to build on for next year."
On having seen the best of both types of MSU teams, young and experienced:
"It has been a roller coaster career for me, with injuries to starting to winning championship rings. Going to seasons like this year, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love these guys like I did my first team, even more maybe. How much I have put into this season, watching us develop and grow. Tonight we played as a whole team. Everybody contributed and did well. There were no heroes tonight, there was just one solid team out there that beat Alabama. Maybe Alabama is better on paper and we shouldn't have been able to beat them, but the way we play with toughness and togetherness just shows."
On if the team is playing the best basketball of the season:
"I think we are. I think we have come together and coach changed the line up and we went smaller and are able to play quicker. I think we were able to feed Charles (Rhodes). Reginald and Richard (Delk) have done really well. I don't think we can key in on one player. Everyone has done well."
On the momentum going into the SEC tournament:
"It is huge. We can enter the tournament on a high note and take this energy and togetherness and take it to the next level. We have a new four game season, everything before this doesn't matter, we just have to try to go out there and win these four games."
On setting the tone in the first half:
"Me and Michael (Boler), it was just good to be out there with him, and I wish Jamall (Edmondson) could have been able to come out there and play with us too. Just being able to come out there and play hard, play with energy. That is what coach preaches on, and just playing with toughness - running hard and just trying to make basketball plays. It just carried over throughout the game."
Alabama Head Coach Mark Gottfried
Opening Comments:
"First of all, let me say that Mississippi State played terrific. You've got to give them credit. We ran into a team today that played exceptionally well. They made every shot when they needed to, whether the shot clock was going down. They really played about a flawless game from my perspective. They did a great job. We weren't very good today, but I think that Mississippi State, after watching them on film their last couple of home games, Georgia and Ole Miss prior to us, they have played terrific. So, you've got to give them credit for that."
On performance of Ronald Steele and Jean Felix:
"You've got to give them credit. They defended us well. Ron struggled a little bit, Jean Felix struggled, and we need more scoring out of those guys. But you know, you are going to have days like that."
On double teaming Ronald Steele:
"Some other guys have got to step up and make plays. They have for the most part but not in the last couple of games. Obviously we have to get more out of Ron (Steele). We have to do some different things on offense, and maybe have to give the ball up in some places and get it back at other places on the court. Teams are keying on him (Steele) right now and understandably so. We've got to do a little better when that happens. "
On mental exhaustion:
"I want to be real clear not to take anything away from Mississippi State. They were great today. We played Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, and with the limited number of guys, playing seven guys, that's a full week. I think we looked tired today. We just didn't have that zip. The other thing is you've got to be careful, and I've tried to warn our players against it. You win that last game and now you've got ten SEC wins. There has never been a team left out with ten, and you've got the NCAA tournament in your back pocket. That's a dangerous trap to fall into that we cannot let happen with our team. We've got to go to Nashville and play better. You've got to be careful. These guys are 18-19 years old. We've got some young players, and they watch TV every night. They read newspapers with all of that "who's in who's out" and they've got to be careful. We've got to be a lot better in Nashville than we were today."
On going into the tournament:
"We are going to leave this game here. We are not going to take it with us. I can look back, the Sunday after Chuck Davis got hurt we lost a home game to Ole Miss, we were 0-1. If you had told me that day that we would be 10-6 with a two seed in the West, I would have shaken your hand, taken it and gone to dinner. I am still proud of our guys. We are not going to let one game effect what we've done. We didn't play very well today, and Mississippi State was terrific."
* The Bulldogs are now 6-2 in 'Senior Day/Night' games (2-1 vs. Alabama)during Rick Stansbury's eight-year MSU head coaching career.
* With today's win, MSU concludes the regular season with an 11-5 homerecord (5-3 in SEC home games) to mark the eighth consecutive season thatthe Bulldogs have reached double-figure home wins under Stansbury'sguidance... MSU's 16-game home slate marks the most regular-season homegames for a Bulldog team in school history.
* Mississippi State is now 94-22 (.810) at Humphrey Coliseum and 47-17(.734) in SEC home games during the Rick Stansbury era (since 1998-99).
* With MSU avenging this year's 65-59 loss at Alabama and also last season's68-63 home loss to the Tide on MSU's 'Senior Day', the Bulldogs and CrimsonTide have now split their regular-season series 10 of the last 12 seasonsand 15 times over the prior 19 campaigns.
* The Bulldogs concluded the 2005-06 regular season with four consecutivehome wins - all by double digits - with today's 13-point victory joiningprevious home triumphs over Georgia (83-68), Ole Miss (84-55) and Auburn(71-53).
* With 15 assists and but 11 turnovers (tying season low of 11 miscuesagainst Kentucky) in this afternoon's win, the Bulldogs have now totaledmore assists than turnovers in a game for a season-first, second-consecutivecontest (15 assists & 12 turnovers at Arkansas this past Wednesday). Theonly other games this season in which MSU has been credited with moreassists than turnovers were the South Carolina (16/13) and Santa Clara(16/14) contests.
* The Bulldogs are now 10-1 this season and 130-17 during the Stansbury erawhen leading at the half.
* Mississippi State is now 8-2 this season and 105-16 during the Stansburyera when holding the opposition to 65 points or less.
* State is now 11-4 this season and 115-24 during the Stansbury era whenshooting 45 percent or better from the field.
* All-SEC candidates Charles Rhodes and Jamont Gordon extended their currentstreaks of consecutive games scoring in double figures to 17 and 11,respectively... Rhodes scored 16 points on 8-of-12 field-goal shooting thisafternoon to finish the regular season making 50 percent or better of hisfield goals for the 13th time in 16 regular-season league contests... Withhis team-high 17 points today, Gordon has now claimed (or tied) team scoringhonors a team-most 12 times this season.
* In his last two games, senior center Wesley Morgan has posted hisSEC-season high in points (nine) this afternoon against Alabama and inrebounds (eight) earlier this week at Arkansas... Morgan made his firststart since this year's Jan. 21 game at Vanderbilt... Making his firstcareer collegiate start, senior Michael Boler tied his career high with fivepoints this afternoon to match prior five-point efforts against Troy thisseason and versus Stanford during last year's NCAA Tournament.
* With this afternoon's victory, the Bulldogs have secured the West's No. 4seed in next week's SEC Tournament in Nashville.