With just 9.6 seconds remaining, Mississippi State (10-4, 0-3 Southeastern Conference) needed just one defensive stop to snap a 27-game home win streak for Alabama (12-2, 2-1 SEC). Had just eight seconds remained, headlines from coast to coast would have been different.
Junior Timmy Bowers ended his 34-minute scoring drought to give his Bulldogs a two-point edge with a lay-up. MSU was primed to win the border war. Instead, Jackson native Maurice Williams found Antoine Pettway in his red high tops. Like Dorothy, Pettway found ‘There is no place like home,’ as he followed an empty hardwood road to the hoop and sent the game into overtime.
“I asked Mo (Williams) to drive my way,” recalled Pettway. “I originally wanted to get a three and tell everyone to go home.”
“We wanted to keep Williams in front of us,” MSU head coach Rick Stansbury hoarsely said. “It was a scrambled play, and they scrambled the right way.”
The first half belonged to the Bulldogs. MSU turned UA turnovers into fast break points. State led by 17 after 17 minutes of play to the delight of the hundreds of Bulldog fans that made the trip.
Two large ‘Dawg Pound’ sections stood the entire game and frequently made Coleman Coliseum echo the chant of Maroon and White. During the ‘Dawg dominance, thousands of ‘Bama fans sat silently.
The deficit could have been even greater had MSU not missed nine of 11 three pointers. The Crimson Tide then stopped the bleeding as State went scoreless the final three minutes. After trailing 36-24 at intermission, the Tide surged in the second half.
“We knew that they were going to make a run. Good teams do,” said senior guard Derrick Zimmerman, whose 15 points (5 of 6 fgs, 5 of 6 fts), seven rebounds and four assists led the Bulldogs. The Z-man also held Williams to zero points in the first half.
The keys to Alabama’s second half turnaround: 1) UA 3-6, MSU 0-5 from behind the arc; 2) UA 4-5 at the charity stripe, while Ontario Harper made MSU’s only free throw.
Now, #1 + #2 =12. The poor outside shooting hindered the MSU’s inside game.
“We didn’t have the bonus of a perimeter game to open up the inside tonight,” said Harper, who scored 12 points in the loss. Alabama collapsed its defense and forced turnovers on entry passes intended for center Mario Austin who was limited to only five field goal attempts for the entire game.
The overtime session proved to be a ‘Mini Me’ of the second half.
‘Bama won the tip and quickly looked inside to Erwin Dudley who connected on a three-point play. The Tide would not trail after this. Dudley capitalized on a still-gimpy Austin with game highs in points (23) and rebounds (8).
The Bulldogs fought valiantly until a Williams’ three with 26 seconds left gave ‘Bama a 66-61 lead. Pettway made two free throws seal the deal at 68-62.
“I told my team coming in tonight to make sure we could look ourselves in the mirror and know that we played hard,” said Stansbury. “We made sure of that tonight, but this is a tough pill to swallow.”
The Bulldogs will have an open weekend to return to the drawing board before hosting the South Carolina Gamecocks Wednesday at The Hump. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
The Bulldogs will also play at home the following Saturday against the Tigers of Louisiana State University before taking to the road to face Mississippi Jan. 29 and Georgia on Feb. 1 in Athens, Ga.