Survival has become a theme for this year’s Mississippi State basketball team. The Bulldogs have survived in games against Fairfield, Birmingham Southern, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. And they did it again Saturday in the 71-68 win over in-state rival University of Mississippi.
“We did not play our best, but there are games like that,” Head Coach Rick Stansbury said. “You just have to survive.”
A big part of the survival can be credited to the play of reserve guard Jamall Edmondson. Edmondson, typically a shooting guard, replaced sophomore Gary Ervin at point guard with 11:44 remaining in the game and MSU trailing 51-50 and played the remainder of the game.
During the stretch, Edmondson committed no turnovers and two free throws in the final minute to help seal the Bulldog victory.
“I think it is very obvious that he is not a high risk point guard,” Stansbury said.
Edmondson, who played shooting guard in community college and came to Mississippi State because of his long range shooting ability, has made a gradual change to the point guard position.
The 5-6 Montgomery, Ala., native played point during the final minutes of the Bulldog’s loss to LSU and also started at that position in the Kentucky game.
“Everything is coming along right now,” Edmondson said. “I am getting more comfortable every time I step on the floor, especially in crunch time.”
He finished the game with eight points and only one turnover in 16 minutes on the court.
MSU opened the game by hitting their first five shots and building an 11-5 lead four and a half minutes into the game. But deadly three point shooting by the Rebels and costly turnovers from the Bulldogs allowed Mississippi to lead much of the first half.
“They made shots. You gamble a little bit playing zone,” Stansbury said. “They spread you out so well offensively because they play small and it was a hard match-up for us.”
The Rebels utilized their sharp shooting to build a 10-point lead at 36-26 on a Todd Abernethy jump shot with 3:38 remaining in the half.
Coming out of a timeout, the Bulldogs switched to a man-to-man defense that pressured the Rebel guards. In the first possession Ervin forced a foul on Abernethy with his tough defense.
Lawrence Roberts, who had a game-high 20 points and 15 rebounds, converted a lay-up on the offensive end to pull within six of the Rebels with 2:33 left in the first half.
The Bulldog pressure caused a Justin Johnson turnover in the lane that led to another Roberts lay-up, and a foul on Tommie Eddie gave the Bulldogs a chance for a three point play. Roberts made good on his free throw and pulled the Bulldogs to within three at 33-36.
Roberts was again sent to the free throw line with 31 seconds remaining. This time he connected on one of two to pull State to within one, but Mississippi’s Brandon Patterson rebounded a missed Rebel shot and laid the ball in as time expired to push the halftime lead back to three at 41-38.
Ole Miss wasn’t the only one having an exceptional offensive night. MSU’s Shane Power also shot the ball well, scoring 18 points. This outing capped a fantastic February for the senior guard from Crown Point, Ind. In his seven February outings, Power averaged 17 points. He is also now shooting 43.1 percent from behind the arc for the season and 58.1 percent over the last nine games.
In the second half MSU took the lead four times but never lead by more than two. Every time the Bulldogs took the lead, the Rebels were able to battle back and regain the lead.
It wasn’t until 2:31 remained in the game that the Bulldogs were able to take the lead for good. MSU went up 65-64 on a jumper by senior Ontario Harper.
Over the final 2:30 the Bulldogs did not make a field goal but counted on accurate free throw shooting to seal the victory for MSU.
Roberts, who had struggled from the line in recent games, made four straight and was 10-of-11 for the game. His free throws put the Bulldogs up 69-64 with 1:19 remaining.
“I knew we needed to hit free throws in crunch time to give us the edge to win,” Roberts said. “Free throws decide close games, and you just have to concentrate and knock them down.”
The Rebels had a chance to tie the game after an MSU turnover with under a minute left, but Cavadas Nunnery’s three-point attempt clanged off the front of the rim with 20 seconds left. Edmonson hit two free throws to put State up 71-66 and seemingly salt the game away.
However, Mississippi had one more chance to pull out a win when Marvin Moore hit a jumper in the lane to pull the Rebels to within three with 1.6 seconds left. On the shot Winsome Frazier fouled Moore and sent him to the line.
Moore intentionally missed the free throw, hoping the rebound would go to a Rebel three point shooter. But Frazier spoiled Moore’s plan when he grabbed the ball out of the air and sealed MSU’s eighth straight win over Ole Miss.