Mississippi State simply dominated the second half Saturday afternoon against the Louisiana State Tigers and came out with a 84-61 victory. After leading by only six points at the halftime break, the Bulldogs ran away in the second half, outscoring the Tigers by 17 points, and pushing the Bulldogs record to 16-4 and 3-3 in the SEC. The Bulldogs found their leading scorer, Mario Austin. Austin got all 12 of his points in the second half after being limited to only three minutes during the first half because of foul trouble.
OEvery time he (Austin) touched the ball early in the second half, he either scored or created a foul,O said head coach Rick Stansbury. OOur team stayed focused in the first half. They kept the game under control and took good shots.O
The loss of Austin in the first half left a huge hole, until Ontario Harper came into the game. Harper, a red-shirt freshman, finished the game with 16 points and was 4-4 from behind the three-point stripe.
OI came out tonight and had some good shots, and I knew I could shoot,O Harper said. OCoach told me to take them, so I did. I was just on tonight. I really felt it.O
LSUOs closest answer for Harper and Austin was the play of Torris Bright and Ronald Dupree. Bright finished with 21 points while Dupree had 16 of his 18 points in the second half.
OWe wanted to limit the shots of Dupree. That was our plan,O Stansbury said. OOur guys did a very good job of that in the first half. Michal Ignerski and Michael Gholar did a great job on a tough guy.O
MSU shot 62 percent from the field during the game while holding the Tigers to only 39 percent. The Bulldogs were also 60 percent from three-point range for the contest and won the rebounding battle 38-24.
ORebounding is just an intensity category. You can tell how hard your team is playing by looking at that,O Stansbury said. OOur fans, especially our students, did a great job of bringing us some good energy.O
After Harper and Austin, the Bulldogs got 12 points apiece from Marckell Patterson and Ignerski. Gholar chipped in eight points and Derrick Zimmerman had five to round out the Bulldog starters.
The Bulldogs pushed their home record to 9-0, but have to take to the road for the next two SEC contests at Auburn and Florida. The Bulldogs are 0-3 on the road in the SEC this season.
OThe difference between being on the road and playing here is that we are more intense when we are at home,O Austin said. OWe have to go out these next two games and find that intensity.O
Auburn holds a 9-8 record for this season 1-5 in the SEC, but has lost their last three games. The Tigers only SEC victory came at home where they are 1-2. Auburn is led by Marquis Daniels with 12.1 points and Derrick Bird with 11.2 points per contest.
The tip is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum at Auburn. The game will be televised on Jefferson Pilot Sports.