The setting was eerily familiar. The last time Mississippi State visited the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center to play a supposedly overmatched opponent the Bulldogs lost to Butler in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament. This time though, Ontario Harper made sure the Bulldogs didn’t do the same against the Fairfield Stags.
Playing his first game in over a year, Harper scored 17 points, including the clinching free throw with 4.6 seconds left, to lead Mississippi State to an ugly 53-49 win over the Stags.
The Bulldogs overcame Shane Power’s 0 points and a horrid first half that saw MSU shoot only 28 percent from the floor and 5-17 from the free throw line. Amazingly, as badly as the Dogs played, they went to the locker room trailing only 24-20.
Harper, coming off of ACL surgery that caused him to miss all of last year, came off the bench to play one of the best games of his Mississippi State career.
The Bulldogs appeared to have put the game away with less than a minute left, leading 51-43, but the Stags made one final run. Deng Gui hit two free throws for the Fairfield to cut the lead to 52-49 but Harper hit the clinching free throw to seal the win for the Bulldogs.