After losing three games in a row, Rick Stansbury knew his Mississippi State team needed a win … soon.”We all understood the urgency of this game,” Stansbury said. “We didn’t talk about it but we all knew it.”
Not only did his team know it, they responded.
Reginald Delk had 18 points and led the Bulldogs to a 85-78 victory over the Louisiana State Tigers in front of 7,439 at Humphrey Coliseum.
“We had to find a way to win,” Delk said. “We were in dead last, so we just knew that we had to come out here and win this one.”
MSU (12-9, 3-5) started off the game tentatively and quickly fell behind.
However, once Stansbury substituted in his guard-heavy lineup, the Bulldogs attacked LSU on the perimeter and changed the pace of the contest.
“We were going to try to be as aggressive as we could,” Stansbury said. “We wanted to make it an up-tempo game, and I think we got to them a little bit. They were a little winded on defense down the stretch.”
State fired 16 3-pointers in the first half alone, finishing at 48 percent from behind the arc and hitting a season-high 13 3’s.
Delk’s performance was the lightning rod.
“We were just at home,” Delk said. “We had confidence, and we started hitting our shots.”
“When you make shots, it makes the world go ’round,” Stansbury said. “Those shots that Reggie was hitting? The last two games he was 2-for-13 on those.
“We’ve been fighting and fighting and just coming up a play short in the last two or three games, and something good finally happened for us tonight.”
The Tigers (13-9, 2-6) outshot the Bulldogs in the opening half, going 61.5 percent from the field, but thanks to junior forward Charles Rhodes’ buzzer-beating layup, the two teams were tied at halftime.
Rhodes had 13 points and three of the Bulldogs’ nine blocks in the game.
With reigning SEC Player of the Year Glen Davis manning the low post, LSU relied on a strong inside game to wear down the Bulldogs.
Davis had a game-high 27 points – including 3 3-pointers – and pulled down 10 rebounds, extending his league-leading double-double total to 12.
“I thought we got some good hard play from Charles Rhodes, even though the stats don’t show it,” Stansbury said. “Baby Shaq … he’s a load, and Charles held him to 13 points in the paint.”
Rhodes held Davis in check just enough to keep him from taking over the game as MSU continued its hot shooting in the second half.
The two teams traded leads throughout the half, but when Delk extended the Bulldogs’ lead to five on a four-point play with 6:40 left, MSU never lost the lead again.
Delk was 5-of-6 from 3-point range.
“They made timely shots and big 3’s when they needed to,” LSU head coach John Brady said, “and we’re just not a team that can handle that right now.”
MSU’s lone senior contributor, Dietric Slater, had 15 points, one shy of his season high.
Leading scorer Jamont Gordon added 14 to go with game-high seven assists.
Garrett Temple had 16 points and five assists for the Tigers.
Sophomore guard Terry Martin also chipped in 14 points.
“We just found a way to win tonight,” Stansbury said. “John has a good team, and they’re capable of beating anybody.
“It’s just not easy to get out once you get in a slump like that.”
The Bulldogs will return to action Wednesday night when they rtavel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to face the No. 19 Crimson Tide.