TAMPA – Mississippi State’s 79-60 victory over Georgia Thursday in Tampa, Fla., was its third straight win, its third straight game of 79 points or more and the third straight game it’s scored more than 25 points
from its bench. Most importantly, State avenged a loss to Georgia in the 2008 SEC Tournament to earn a place in the semifinals
today. The 19-point win marks MSU’s largest margin of victory ever in the conference tournament.
Sophomore forward Kodi
Augustus led the way off the
bench, scoring 19 points in only
17 minutes, including 3-4 from
beyond the three-point arc. The
bench as a whole added 33 points
in 75 minutes of playing time.
Augustus said he is glad to be
able to help his team whenever
he can.
“We’re just trying to win,” he
said. “Playing together, doing
whatever it takes; we’ve just been
playing together and trying to get
the win, whatever way possible.”
Sophomore guard/forward
Ravern Johnson said the added
minutes from bench play left him
and his teammates well rested for
today’s game.
“I feel like I can go another
game right now,” he said after the
game. “I’m not tired at all.”
Freshman point guard Dee
Bost, who finished with seven
assists, also gave the bench plenty
of credit.
“We really get a spark from the
bench. We trust [the bench] to
come in and control the pace of
the game,” Bost said. “The rest
was real good; we needed it.”
The game’s opening minutes
were very sloppy, with each team
failing to score on any of its first
four possessions.
After that, however, State took
control of the game, outscoring
Georgia 40-26 in the first half.
Johnson led the Maroon and
White Bulldogs in the first half,
with each of his 12 points coming
in the first frame.
“We knew coming in how they
were going to defend me,” he
said. “They kept a man on me,
but he [held off ] Jarvis [Varnado]
and gave me a lot of wide open
looks.”
The second half started much
like the first, with each team
seemingly rusty to begin the
half. MSU and Georgia combined
for three straight turnovers
before senior forward Terrance
Woodbury hit a jumper to open
the period’s scoring.
Woodbury, likely playing for
the last time in Red and Black, led
Georgia scoring with 14 points.
UGA made a push, eventually
trimming the MSU lead
to six. State responded, hitting
back-to-back three-pointers by
sophomore guard Barry Stewart
and Augustus, and never looked
back.
MSU now turns its attention
to South Carolina, which State
plays today in the tournament
quarterfinals.
South Carolina earned a bye
in the tournament by tieing for
the top spot in the SEC Eastern
Division. USC split the East
championship with Tennessee,
but fell to a second-seed position
due to the tiebreaker.
The Gamecocks are led
by junior point guard Devan
Downey, who averages more than
20 points per game. Downey was
named Tuesday to the All-SEC
first team as voted on by the
league’s coaches.
USC also placed two on
the second team, senior guard
Zam Fredrick and junior forward
Dominique Archie. The
Gamecocks also boast the SEC’s
Sixth Man of the Year recipient,
junior guard Brandis Raley-Ross.
Tipoff for today’s game is 2:15
p.m. CST, with the winner moving
on to face the winner of Kentucky/LSU.
For continued coverage of the
tournament, check out
reflectorsports.wordpress.com
or twitter.com/wbwright.