When the 2002 SEC basketball season started with Media Days in Birmingham, Ala., the Mississippi State Bulldogs were picked last in the Western Division as well as last in the SEC. “I think it works well for us. We accept the low-key role. We’ll just be laid back and sneak up on people, and hopefully when the smoke clears at the end of the season, Mississippi State will be sitting up on the top,” junior point guard Derrick Zimmerman said.
MSU backed up its point guard’s statement, as the Bulldogs surprised many in winning their second SEC Tournament Championship in Atlanta, Ga.
“It is very special anytime you can say you are champions. There’s no question the Southeastern Conference is the best league in America. I’m just so proud that the team and these young men beside me had that opportunity to experience this,” MSU head coach Rick Stansbury said. “There’s a lot of good coaches and a lot of players that never had this opportunity, but these players and this team has worked extremely hard, and I couldn’t be prouder for them to have this moment,” Stansbury said.
The Bulldogs arrived in Atlanta as the No. 2 seed of the West behind the regular season champion, Alabama and were looking to improve on their NCAA Tournament seeding.
A series split would see these two division foes square-off for a third time with much more at stake in front of a crowd of 16,501. How fitting for the two to battle with each other for the SEC Tournament crown.
Following an early tie, the Bulldogs jumped out to an eight-point lead, at 16-8 with 13 minutes remaining in the first half on a field goal by center Mario Austin. The Crimson Tide would chip away at the Bulldog lead, but would not get closer than three-points, at 20-17 with 8:32 remaining in the opening half. MSU would go on a 10-3 run to push to the largest lead of the game, with 4:28 remaining before the intermission, at 30-20, on a pair of free throws by Austin. Alabama would use a short run of their own to cut State’s lead in half, at 30-25, at the intermission. After the break, MSU would pick up where they left off, but the Tide would use a 10-2 run to tie the game up at 35-35 with approximately 16 minutes remaining in the second half. MSU would push the lead back out, but Alabama would continue to chip away at the lead and with 9:30 remaining in the second half, the Tide would take their first lead of the game at 45-44 on a put back by the Crimson Tide’s All-SEC center Erwin Dudley.
Alabama would hold the lead for over 6:00 minutes, until guard Timmy Bowers would give the Bulldogs the lead for good, at 54-52, on a 22-foot three-pointer with 3:52 remaining in the game. Zimmerman would help add to the MSU lead, as he connected on a three-pointer of his own, to give the Bulldogs a five-point edge.
All-Tournament selectee, Rod Grizzard would pull the Tide back within one on a pair of free throws. MSU senior, Michael Gholar, would ice the game for MSU with two of his four points, a pair of free throws and give the Bulldogs a 61-58 win.
“Our seniors really wanted this and we just wanted to send them out on a good note. We knew it was going to be tough coming in, but we just gutted it out,” Austin stated.
“We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game and no team had the advantage. We knew they were going to be a tough team tonight,” Zimmerman said. “It’s a special time for us because we came a long way. At the beginning of the season nobody expected much from us. You guys (media) keep picking us last and as long as it keeps turning out like this, we’ll take it.”
Tournament MVP Austin led MSU with 15 points, as Zimmerman and forward Michal Ignerski added 13 each. Dudley led all scorers with 18 points and Grizzard supplied 17.
The road to the finals was not an easy one, as the Maroon and White had to survive the quarter and semifinals.
In the Bulldogs’ opening game of the tournament, MSU would defeat the 11th-ranked Florida Gators 62-52. This would be a rematch from the earlier game in Gainesville, Fla., in which the Gators routed the ‘Dawgs 78-46.
“We knew coming in here that we were in for a very different kind of game than the one in Gainesville. It was a great opportunity to play them on a neutral court,” Stansbury said. “Our team came into this tournament with a lot of confidence and it paid off.”
Three minutes into the game, the Bulldogs finally struck first on a three-pointer by Zimmerman. This would be the tempo of the game, as the two teams had trouble finding the basket, with each shooting around the 30-percent mark from the field at the break.
Florida would take their first lead of the game with 11:58 remaining in the opening half at 9-7, on a layup by Brett Nelson. State would attempt to chip away at the Gator lead, but would not overtake Florida.
The first half would see the game tied five times and the Gators took a three-point advantage in at the half 25-22, on a field goal by guard Justin Hamilton.
In the second half, both teams came out firing. Both exchanged baskets and leads, until Ignerski gave the Bulldogs the lead for good, at 31-29, on a three with 16:45 remaining in the game.
Mississippi State would continue to add more to their lead, before pushing out to their largest lead of 12 (57-45), as Bowers connected from the charity stripe.
Florida would attempt to close the gap, but Ignerski closed the door on the game with a dunk from Bowers with four seconds remaining, giving the Bulldogs their 10-point victory over the Gators and their first tournament win since 1999.
“We felt that we were able to handle their press and then get into our offense,” Zimmerman said. “We knew in the first part of the game that we were going to win.”
Bowers led all scorers with 17 points. Zimmerman added 15, as Ignerski supplied 14 points. Hamilton led the Gators with 13 and Nelson had 10.
In the semifinals, the Bulldogs would meet up with second round surprise, Louisiana State. The last time the Tigers faced the Bulldogs, State blew a 15-point halftime lead to lose in overtime 68-65 in Baton Rouge, La.
This time, it would not be the case, as MSU downed the Bayou Bengals 57-51 to earn their spot in the SEC championship game.
LSU picked up right where they left off in the last meeting with MSU, jumping out to an early advantage and leading most of the first half. MSU took their first lead going on a 7-0 run capping it off with 9:32 remaining in the opening stanza, breaking a 16-16 tie on a field goal by Austin.
The Tigers would regain the lead at 28-26, on a field goal by Antonio Hudson with 1:23 remaining before the intermission. The Maroon and White would go on a 5-0 run to close the half on an Ontario Harper lay up and free throw giving the Bulldogs a 31-28 lead at the break.
MSU would continue to add to their lead, pushing it out to as many as six, before LSU would overtake the Bulldogs on a Ronald Dupree put back with eight remaining in the game, giving the Tigers a 45-44 advantage.
The Bulldogs would chip away at the LSU lead and following several ties; MSU would go on a 7-1 run to close out the Tigers chances of reaching the SEC championship on free throws from Gholar and Bowers.
“I think we started off kind of slow. They did a good job of slowing the pace down,” Gholar stated.
Senior Marckell Patterson said, “I just feel like we came out and played our game,” senior Marckell Patterson said.
Austin led all scorers with 17 points. Hudson paced the Tigers with 16. After winning the SEC Tournament, the Bulldogs were given the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament, and were scheduled to play McNeese State.