With a 65-53 Mississippi State (12-4, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) lead over Louisiana State (12-5, 1-4 SEC) and under a minute to play, many Bulldog fans began leaving Humphrey Coliseum Saturday to beat the traffic.
MSU senior Derrick Zimmerman sank two free throws that seemed to make a Maroon and White victory inevitable, and the exodus of the fans began. In doing so, these fans missed witnessing a lay-up, a turnover, two missed free throws and back-to-back-to-back three-pointers mutate a 12-point convincing win into the narrowest of margins with 11 seconds remaining.
The Z-man returned to the charity stripe for another one-and-one. The first attempt bounced on all parts of the rim before falling in, and the second did the same.
“I knew when they fouled me that I was going to ice the game,” said Zimmerman. “I told coach and my teammates to give me the ball and I would ice it for them–I think I did a good job.”
The Tigers were able to get the ball down the court, but MSU center Mario Austin rotated out to deter a Torris Bright three-pointer that missed the rim completely.
“I’m real happy to get the win, but I’m not real happy with the last minute of the game,” said MSU head coach Rick Stansbury.
The game marked the second time in two weeks that the teams had played, and neither team had a love loss for the other. The officials allowed a highly physical game, with bodies colliding into each other and then the floor and subsequent trash talking. Jerry Springer moments were prevented as both teams stared each other down but regained composure.
“We just had to play tough. In a game, everyone is going to have moments when they get angry, but we didn’t let it get us out of our game,” said Branden Vincent.
Much of the pounding was when Austin guarded Jaime Lloreda, and vise versa. In the last meeting, Lloreda capitalized on an injured Mario Austin for 19 points. This time, both players held each other to eight points.
“We didn’t defend and they rolled over us (in Baton Rouge), said Austin. “I wanted to come out and show them that I could defend any post player in the league if I put my mind to it. I knew that once he started talking, I pretty much had him.” Senior Michal Ignerski led the Dawgs in both points (15) and boards (8). Iggy also made three steals while committing just two turnovers in 32 minutes.
“I think I tried to just relax,” said Ignerski. “Coaches and players expect plays like that from me. I’ve got to keep doing that more and more.”
“LSU did a good job of doubling the post every time Mario (Austin) touched it, but it was good to see Iggy step up and make plays,” said Stansbury.
Timmy Bowers added 14 points, Winsome Frazier scored 11 off the bench and Zimmerman had 10 and a game-high five assists.
Frazier also sent the crowd of 10,046 into frenzy when he rejected a dunk from behind.
“People think that I can’t jump, so I just went out and got a defensive stop,” said Frazier. “I felt the adrenaline, and once I got going, I just couldn’t stop.”
“You don’t teach that, you don’t tell him to go do that,” said Stansbury. “That’s having instincts and ability to go make those plays.”
The Bulldogs will try to extend their two-game win streak Wednesday at arch-rival Mississippi (12-4, 3-2 SEC). The Rebels boast a three-game winning streak of their own.
“What better place to go to and get your first SEC road win than your rivalry school,” said Bowers. “Playing there is not an easy task, but we will defend, rebound, and let the offense take care of itself.”
“(UM) is no easy place to play, but I think that we can go in and win,” said Zimmerman. “I really believe in my heart that if we take our energy and defensive intensity to another level we will do fine.”