The hype around MSU senior Jarvis Varnado’s quest for the all-time NCAA blocks record has been building for over a year. Wednesday night, the countdown reached its climax in State’s 74-66 win over Alabama.
A Varnado block on Alabama’s Mykhail Torrance with 4:30 left in the game gave the Naismith Award candidate his 536th career block, earning him the all-time NCAA blocked shots record.
Varnado said he got in the zone blocking shots in the second half, when he recorded six of his eight blocks on the night.
“I just got on a hot streak,” Varnado said, while wearing a ‘King of Swat’ shirt. “Shooters have a hot streak, I was blocking shots, everything that came in the hole, I just went and got it.”
The previous record of 535 blocks was held by Louisiana Monroe’s Wojciech Mydra, who played from 1998-2002. Varnado not only set the record, but put together an impressive stat line while doing it. He had 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocks on the evening, leaving him two blocks shy of a triple-double.
Varnado was not the only Bulldog to break a record Wednesday night. Senior Barry Stewart broke Darryl Wilson’s MSU record for most three-pointers made in a career. Stewart said it felt good to get the record-breaking shot after some of his early shots rimmed out.
“It’s been doing that a lot lately, but when it finally went down it felt good,” Stewart said.
It is fitting that Stewart and Varnado broke these records on the same night.
The two played together in an Amateur Athletic Union league in high school, and have been roommates during their four years together on the team. They are both tied for the MSU record of games played. Stewart said it was good to break records with someone he has been through both good and bad times with.
“We’ve been around each other since day one, and to both break records on the same night, it’s speechless,” Stewart said. “It’s fun doing something with somebody you like, and somebody you’ve been through hard times with. It’s a great thing.”
Head coach Rick Stansbury, who reached the 20-win plateau for the ninth time in his career with the victory, said after the game the records could not have gone to better people.
“One thing that record sometimes may not tell you is how good of people they are. I can promise you, as important, as special as those records are, both of them are better people.”
With the majority of the 8,477 fans in The Hump focused on the falling records, the players had to maintain their focus on the game itself. Shortly after breaking the blocks record, Varnado was telling his teammates to focus on making defensive stops.
“I was just telling the guys we needed to get some stops,” Varnado said. “The game wasn’t over. We’re trying to fight for our lives right now to get to the [NCAA] tournament.”
For Alabama, the majority of their first half offense was generated by guard Mikhail Torrance. The senior had already amassed 15 points with seven minutes left in the first half. However, from there he only added eight more points and finished with 23.
The Bulldogs held a 31-29 lead at halftime, and extended the lead to 10 by the midway point of the second half.
The Crimson Tide cut the defecit down to two points with 3:54 left in the game, but sophomore Dee Bost responded with back-to-back three pointers to extend the lead as the Bulldogs cruised to a victory in the final minutes with a final score of 74-66. With the spotlight on Stewart and Varnado, Bost had a quiet 22 points to lead the Bulldogs in scoring.
The win, combined with Arkansas’ loss to LSU Wednesday night, gives the Bulldogs a 1 1/2 game lead in the SEC Western division standings.
With less than three weeks remaining until the NCAA tournament field is chosen and the Bulldogs sitting on the bubble, Stansbury said the team will only focus on what they can do to make the tournament.
“All we can controls is what’s in between those white lines. The rest will take care of itself,” Stansbury said.