Game 31 | Mississippi State vs. South Carolina - SECT | Wednesday, March 13, 2013 Gregg Ellis, Assistant Media Relations Director Humphrey Coliseum, Room 202 | 55 Coliseum Boulevard Mississippi State, MS 39762 | Fax: 662.325.3654 Office: 662-325-3595 | Cell: 662-322-0145 E-Mail: [email protected] | www.hailstate.com Twitter: @mstateMBK; @msuhoopsgregg; @RickRay1 2012-13 Men’s Basketball Facebook: www.facebook.com/mstateMBK 10 NCAA Appearances | 1 Final Four | 6 SEC Championships | 3 SEC Tournament Titles | 18 Postseason Appearances At A Glance MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS (9-21, 4-14) When: .................. Wedneday, March 13, 2013 Head Coach: Rick Ray (Grand View [IA], 1994) Where: ..............................................Nashville Venue: ................. Bridgestone Arena (18,160) MSU Record: 9-21, 1st year Time: ................................................ 6:30 p.m. Career Record: Same TV: .................................SEC Network/ESPN3 Talent: Dave Neal, John Sundvold, Shannon Spake VS Sirus/XM: ........................................... 199/126 Series:...................................MSU leads, 17-9 SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS (14-17, 4-14) Last Meeting: .................79-72, USC (3-6-13) Head Coach: Frank Martin (Florida International, 1993) South Carolina Record: 14-17, 1st year 2012-13 Schedule/Results Career Record: 131-71, 6th year NOVEMBER 9 at Troy L, 56-53 WHAT TO NOTE AS MSU PLAYS SOUTH CAROLINA . 13 FLORIDA ATLANTIC W, 78-58 aGavin Ware and Craig Sword were named to the SEC All-Freshman team on Tuesday. Maui Invitational (Maui, Hawaii) aMississippi State and South Carolina are meeting for the fourth time in the SEC Tournament, 19 vs. North Carolina (ESPN2) L, 95-49 with the Gamecocks holding a 2-1 advantage. All-time, the Bulldogs are 27-49 in the event. 20 vs. Marquette (ESPN2) L, 89-62 aThe two last met in 2009 in Tampa, with MSU claiming an 82-68 win in the second round. 21 vs. Texas (ESPNU) L, 69-55 aIn the last 20 years, MSU is 10-10 in SEC Tournament openers. 27 ALCORN STATE W, 60-42 aThe most common foe for Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament is Vanderbilt (5-8). aAfter winning six-straight tournament games, MSU has now lost three in a row, starting with the DECEMBER finals in Nashville against Kentucky in 2010. SEC/Big East Challenge (Providence, RI) aThe most wins against any one team is Vanderbilt (5), while the most losses are to Georgia (9). a 1 at Providence (ESPNU) L, 73-63 If the Bulldogs win, they’ll face Tennessee. The Vols hold a 6-3 tournament advantage, but 4 TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO W, 53-42 MSU has won the last three, including the 2009 finals in Tampa, 66-61. a 15 at Loyola-Chicago L, 59-51 In the 74-71 win against Auburn, Colin Borchert totaled 20 points to mark the seventh time an 22 vs. Central Arkansas^ W, 79-72 MSU player has reached 20 points. It was the second time for him. Craig Sword has reached 30 ALABAMA A&M (CSS) L, 59-57 20 points twice, along with Wendell Lewis, Gavin Ware and Jalen Steele. aFred Thomas has 50 steals on the year after collecting one against Auburn, leaving him JANUARY two behind Dee Bost at No. 2 in the MSU freshman record books. Ray White is first with 60. 3 NEW ORLEANS (CSS) W, 97-46 aGavin Ware currently has 106 made field goals, 35 of which are dunks, the most on the team. 9 SOUTH CAROLINA (ESPN3) W, 56-54 aCraig Sword was named the SEC Freshman of the Week after averaging 19.5 points, 4.5 as- 12 at Georgia (SEC Network) W, 72-61 sists and 3.5 rebounds this past week. He also hit the game-winning free throws against Au- 16 ALABAMA (CSS) L, 75-43 burn. It’s the second time this year he’s won this award. 19 at Tennessee (SEC Network) L, 72-57 aAccording to kenpom.com, Mississippi State’s ranking among the 347 Division I schools in 23 at Arkansas (CSS) L, 96-70 terms of roster experience is 329th. 26 FLORIDA (ESPN2) L, 82-47 aDue to injuries, MSU has lost freshmen Andre Applewhite (ACL) and Jacoby Davis (ACL), 30 TEXAS A&M (CSS) L, 55-49 OT junior Jalen Steele (ACL) and senior forward Wendell Lewis (fractured right patella) for the year. MSU plans to apply for a medical redshirt for Lewis at season’s end.Pienihictem quo cu FEBRUARY 2 LSU (FSN) L, 69-68 MSU’S PROJECTED STARTING 5 6 at Ole Miss (CSS) L, 93-75 9 at Florida (Fox Sports South) L, 83-58 13 MISSOURI (SEC Network) L, 78-36 16 at LSU (ESPNU) L, 80-68 20 at Alabama (SEC Network) L, 64-56 23 VANDERBILT (SEC Network) L, 72-31 27 at Kentucky (SEC Network) L, 85-55 MARCH Gl32lFR Gl1lFR Gl4lSO Fl20lFR Fl3lJR 2 OLE MISS (FSN) W, 73-67 Craig Fred Trivante Gavin Colin 6 at South Carolina (ESPN3) L, 79-72 9 AUBURN (Fox Sports South) W, 74-71 OT Sword Thomas Bloodman Ware Borchert SEC Tournament (Nashville, TN) P: 10.3 P: 9.3 P: 5.9 P: 8.6 P: 8.8 13 South Carolina (SEC Network) 6:30 p.m. R: 2.9 R: 3.5 R: 3.1 R: 6.4 R: 4.9 ^ - Jackson, Miss (Mississippi Coliseum) A: 2.3 A: 1.3 A: 2.4 B: 0.8 B: 1.3 S: 1.6 S: 1.7 S: 1.1 S: 0.5 S: 1.2 MISSISSIPPI STATE BASKETBALL GAME 31: SOUTH CAROLINA-SEC TOURNAMENT 2012-13 MISSISSIPPI STATE PLAYER BREAKDOWN Statistical Comparison A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SOUTH CAROLINA SERIES 2012-13 Stats MSU USC MSU has won 7 out of the last 10 in this series, but South Carolina won 2012-13 Record .......................9-20 14-17 the last meeting last week in Columbia, 79-72, to snap a 7-game losing Conference Record .................4-14 4-14 skid to the Bulldogs. Scoring ....................................60.6 66.3 Below is a look at the last 10 meetings. Scoring Defense ......................69.9 68.9 Year Where Score Scoring Margin .........................-9.3 -2.5 2013 Columbia USC, 79-72 Field Goal Pct. .........................40.1 41.4 2013 Starkville MSU, 56-54 Opp. FG Pct.............................43.8 45.1 2012 Columbia MSU, 69-67 OT 3-Point FG Pct. ........................28.1 32.8 2012 Starkville MSU, 60-58 Opp. 3-Point FG Pct. ...............34.2 33.4 2011 Columbia MSU, 76-63 Free Throw Pct. .......................65.9 68.8 2011 Tampa MSU, 82-68 Opp. FT Pct. ............................69.2 66.1 2010 Starkville MSU, 75-70 Rebounding Average ...............33.3 35.5 2010 Columbia MSU, 61-56 Opp. Rebounding Avg. ............37.3 32.6 2009 Starkville USC, 66-63 Rebound Margin .......................-4.1 +2.9 2009 Nashville USC, 59-44 Assists .......................................9.9 12.2 Turnovers ................................17.2 15.3 MARCH RECORD LAST 25 YEARS Turnover Margin .......................-2.0 -1.1 Dating back to the 1987-88 season when Richard Williams was over- Steals.........................................7.8 5.2 seeing the program, Mississippi State owns a composite ledger of 59-50 Blocked Shots............................3.9 3.5 (.541) in March. Last year, MSU was 1-2 in March. Statistical Leaders SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA Scoring South Carolina opens tournament play following a 74-64 loss at Vander- MSU PPG OPP PPG bilt. Sword ........... 10.3 Williams ..........11.1 The Gamecocks trailed 36-25 at the break. Thomas........... 9.3 Carrera ......... 10.0 USC was 23-of-64 shooting, 7-20 beyond the arc. The Commodores Rebounding were 22-48, 7-19. MSU RPG OPP RPG South Carolina did win the battle of the boards, 39-32. Ware ............... 6.4 Carrera ........... 7.3 Brenton Williams paced the Gamecocks with 17 points, while Bruce Ellington poured in 10. Michael Carrera led USC with 13 rebounds. Borchert .......... 4.9 Jackson ........... 6.0 Assists LAST TIME OUT FOR MSU . MSU APG OPP APG Mississippi State concluded regular-season play with a 74-71 overtime Bloodman ....... 2.4 Smith ........... 3.1 win against Auburn. Sword ............. 2.3 Ellington ........... 2.8 Tied 24-all at the half, Colin Borchert sent the game into overtime when Blocks he drained a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left. In the OT frame, Craig Sword gave MSU the lead for good with two free MSU BPG OPP BPG throws with 34 seconds remaining. Borchert .......... 1.3 Jackson ........... 0.7 MSU hit 25 of it 62 shots, while Auburn was 28-68. MSU also won the Ware/Thomas . 0.8 Slawson .............0.6 battle of the boards, 46-42. Steals Borchert paced MSU with 20 points. He also had 13 rebounds for his MSU SPG OPP SPG first double-double. Sword totaled 19 points to go along with his 6 assists. Fred Thomas and Roquez Johnson each added 10 points. Thomas........... 1.7 Ellington ........... 1.3 Sword ................ 1.6 Jackson .............0.7 LACK OF INEXPERIENCE SEEN IN MINUTES Field Goal Percentage (220 minimum) Due to injures, MSU’s roster currently features just three players who MSU FG% OPP FG% logged a total of 70 minutes last year ­— Roquez Johnson (45), Tyson Borchert ........ 40.9 Williams ......... 45.8 Cunningham (14) and Baxter Price (11). Sword ........... 40.4 Ellington ......... 33.0 Those three also accounted for 1 point and 13 rebounds. 3-Point FG Percentage (90 minimum) HORATIO IS SEC LEGEND MSU 3FG% OPP 3FG% Borchert ........ 33.0 Williams ......... 41.7 Former Mississippi State standout Horatio Webster has been named Thomas......... 23.0 Richardson ......... 38.5 the 2013 SEC Legend. He will be recognized Wednesday at halftime. Free Throw Percentage (100 minimum) Webster played just two years for the Bulldogs but was a two-time All- MSU FT% OPP FT% SEC selection in 1997 and 1998.