For the first time since the 1998-99 season, the Mississippi State men’s basketball team is 5-0. The Bulldogs picked up where they left off after beating Nicholls State by posting a 92-55 victory against Florida A&M, a 93-81 win over Arkansas Little Rock, a 79-71 win at Louisiana-Lafayette in the Cajundome and a 25-point trouncing of Alabama A&M. The Bulldogs are now one of only two remaining undefeated SEC teams. Marckell Patterson has led the way for the Bulldogs, averaging 20.4 points a game and pulling down just over five rebounds a contest. Patterson torched Florida A&M on Nov. 19 with a career-high 29 points in a 92-55 blowout against the Rattlers. He followed up his career performance scoring 23 against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 22 against the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and 7 against Alabama A&M. The Bulldogs also received solid performances from Mario Austin who is averaging 16.4 points a contest while leading the team in rebounds with 7.8 a game. Austin posted back-to-back 20-point games, scoring 22 against UALR and 20 against ULL.
The Bulldogs will again be home at the Hump on Sunday against South Alabama, before taking to the road on Dec. 5 to avenge last season’s loss to the Richmond Spiders.
The Dogs will return home on Dec. 8 to take on Arkansas State, and will not play again until Dec.15, when they take on Louisiana-Monroe at the Desoto Civic Center in Southaven. On Dec.16, the Bulldogs will travel to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta to play in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl Classic.
Coach Rick Stansbury and his squad will take on Lefty Drisell and Georgia State, that game is scheduled to be televised on Fox Sports South. Later that week, State will travel out to Las Vegas to compete in the Las Vegas Classic on Dec. 20-23.
If the Bulldogs reach the championship game, they will be televised on Dec. 22 on ESPN. The Bulldogs will close out their December schedule with a match up at Tulane, before returning home on Jan. 5 to take on nationally ranked Kentucky at the Hump.
The Men’s team is not the only basketball-related group that is making waves lately. Look out, Cameron Crazies, because a group of MSU students known as Rick’s Rowdies have begun to take over the student section at recent MSU basketball games. The Rowdies have close to 150 members and are looking for more. Sign-up time is running out.