The University of Mississippi (12-10, 3-8 Southeastern Conference) versus Mississippi State (16-5, 6-4 SEC) rivalry was so intense that 40 minutes just weren’t enough.
The state’s third largest college basketball crowd ever (10,429) demanded that a winner be declared. In the extra session, MSU sank 7-9 free throws, made no turnovers and created six points off three UM turnovers to complete the season sweep with a 68-64 victory in a classic “forget about the W-L records” skirmish.
“They came in here playing for their lives,” MSU head coach Rick Stansbury said. “We knew it would be tough. They made big shots over and over and over, but I am proud of our team because we didn’t play our best, but still got the win.”
A grueling first half featured more fouls than field goals and had everyone thankful for the invention of the shot clock. If not for it, the Rebels may have kept the ball for the entire 20 minutes.
“I don’t think that they were trying to hold it until three seconds were on the clock,” Timmy Bowers (10 points) said. “We were in the passing lanes and they couldn’t get into their offense. It just showed that we are capable of defending until the shot clock goes down.”
The lead changed for the 12th time on a Derrick Zimmerman trey with five seconds remaining that gave the Bulldogs a slight 22-21 halftime edge over the Rebels.
Following intermission, State expanded the lead to six thrice, but never slammed the door on UM.
“We played extremely hard, but never got the game separated,” Stansbury said.
“We couldn’t get into our running game, but we settled down as a team and made plays toward the end,” Z said.
UM made a run, and took its largest lead of the day at 40-37, but State didn’t quiver. Instead, the ‘Dawgs packed the ball inside, outscoring UM 40-16 in the paint for the game. The Rebels compensated by sinking 8-16 three’s on the day.
Stalemated at 53 as regulation expired, the game was everything that it had been rumored to be, and it just got better and better. Overtime had six lead changes at three ties. After a shot clock discrepancy, Justin Reed put the Rebels up 62-61. Reed scored 18 on the day and snagged 11 rebounds.
State knew where to go: Mario Austin, who delivered a 3-point play on a pass from Branden Vincent (five rebounds, three assists).
Austin led the ‘Dawgs with 19 points and seven boards and made a spectacular diving save and assist to Vincent just moments before.
“I just wanted to throw it off somebody,” Austin recalled. “It just so happened it hit Branden in the chest.
“This game is about pride. For us to beat them twice, it says a lot about our ball club.”
Stansbury gave praise to Vincent’s defense on the day.
“Coach likes my defense,” Vincent said. “When he needs someone guarded, I kind of take it upon myself to play the best I can. In practice coach has me play one-on-one defense with the guards and that really helps me out.”
Also known for defense, Z forced a turnover by freshman point guard Trey Pearson with 42 seconds remaining and State found Ontario Harper for a lay-up with just 17 ticks left.
“I knew he was a young player, so I wanted to get into him a little bit,” Z said. “I jumped at him and he jumped back, and I knew I had him.”
“You look at Z’s stats … 10 points, eight assists, and only four turnovers in 40 minutes … that’s a day’s work,” Stansbury said. “When you are trying to compete for championships, you have to survive games like this.”
Another steal led to Harper’s exclamation point that iced the game.
After beginning SEC play 0-3, the ‘Dawgs have won five of six, but now have four of the remaining six league games on the road including a Wednesday night fight for first in the West with Auburn (17-6, 6-4 SEC).
“We knew how capable they were at the beginning of the season, but we will try to put them in their place,” Bowers said.
“We can expect a good crowd,” Z said. “There is a lot on the line.”