MSU Continues Six-Game Stretch Against SEC West By Hosting Arkansas
Rebounding from last Wednesday's gut-wrenching 80-79 road loss against 18th-ranked Alabama with Saturday's 91-83 road triumph over the Auburn Tigers, coach Rick Stansbury's Bulldogs enter the week with a 13-10 overall record and are currently tied with Arkansas for third place in the SEC Western Division standings with a 4-6 league mark. MState winds down its current six-game stretch playing against SEC West teams by travelling to LSU for a Saturday afternoon contest in Baton Rouge. This past weekend's eight-point win at Auburn snapped the Bulldogs' 12-game SEC road losing streak that had dated back to the start of league play a year ago. With a10-3 home record on the season, State has now reached double-digit home wins during all nine seasons under Stansbury's guidance.
Having averaged 18.8 points per outing, while totalling 25 assists and only11 turnovers, over his last six games, sophomore all-SEC candidate Jamont Gordon ranks fifth in the league in scoring (16.0 ppg), eighth in rebounding(7.3 rpg) and sixth in assists (4.7 apg). The Nashville native and former Oak Hill Academy standout currently rates as the only NCAA Division I men's basketball player to average 16.0+ points, 7.0+ rebounds and 4.5+ assists per game on the season. Fellow preseason all-SEC selection Charles Rhodes ranks 24th in scoring (12.5 ppg) and 13th in rebounding (6.0 rpg) after matching his season high with 25 points on 9-of-14 field-goal shooting at Auburn this past weekend.
On the heels of their highest scoring effort in SEC play in nearly three years with Saturday's 91-point outing at Auburn, the Bulldogs rank second in the league behind top-ranked Florida in scoring offense (77.3 to 76.6 ppg) for conference games only. Having shot an improved 74.5 percent (117-157FTs) from the line over their last seven games, the Bulldogs rank fourth in the league in free-throw percentage (.696) for SEC games only. Another area of recent improvement for MSU has been in the team's ball-handling efficiency. With 102 total assists and a much-improved 80 turnovers in the last seven games, MState ranks fifth in the SEC in assist/turnover ratio(1.15) against league competition.
Guided by fifth-year head coach Stan Heath, Arkansas sports a 15-9 overall record and 4-6 SEC mark after dropping a 71-67 decision at LSU this past Saturday. The Razorbacks' lone conference road win on the year to date came at Alabama, 63-57, on Jan. 27. The league's top freshman scorer, rookie guard Patrick Beverley leads a trio of double-digit Arkansas scorers at 14.2 points per game. Junior forward and Jackson, Miss., native Charles Thomas is averaging 11.7 points and a team-high 5.4 rebounds per contest, while junior forward Sonny Weems adds 11.5 points and 4.8 rebounds an outing.
Wednesday's MSU-Arkansas contest will feature the league's top two shot-blocking teams, with the Bulldogs and Razorbacks averaging 6.87 and6.46 blocks per game, respectively. The league's top two freshmen scoring leaders - Arkansas' Beverley and State's Barry Stewart (11.0 ppg) - will also be on display in the game. The Bulldogs enter Wednesday's contest having claimed six straight Starkville meetings against Arkansas dating back to the 2000-01 campaign, including last year's 69-67 home win over the Razorbacks in the teams' SEC season opener.