Mississippi State (13-5, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) took down the Alabama Crimson Tide 66-56 Saturday, giving the team its eighth straight win amid thousands of raucous homestanding Tide fans.All-America candidate Jamont Gordon led the team with 24 points on the game, hitting 4-of-8 of his shots from long range and a career-high 10 of 17 from the field. Gordon’s singular steal of the game and subsequent dunk shifted momentum from the Tide (11-8, 0-4 SEC) and started a 7-0 run for the Bulldogs.
Sophomore forward Jarvis “Swat” Varnado finished the game without any blocked shots. However, Varnado who leads the country with 93 blocks (an average of 5.5 per game), is 13 shy of tying Erik Dampier’s single-season record of 106, set during the 1995-96 season.
The Bulldogs return to the Hump next Saturday to play the 18th ranked Ole Miss Rebels.
Look for complete coverage of the Alabama win and a preview of the upcoming hardcourt Egg Bowl in Friday’s edition of The Reflector.