MMISSISSIPPIISSISSIPPI SSTATETATE BBASKETBALLASKETBALL GAME 12: CENTENARY MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS Gregg Ellis, Media Relations Contact 662.325.3595 (O) or 662.322.0145 (C) [email protected] www.mstateathletics.com P.O. Box 5308, Mississippi State, MS 39762 MISSISSIPPI STATE (9-2) VS. CENTENARY (4-6) 2009-10 MISSISSIPPI STATE SCHEDULE Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009 7 p.m. CT Mississippi Coliseum (7,711), Jackson, MS Date Opponent Score/Time TV: None N 13 Rider L 88-74 Series Record: MSU leads, 6-0 N 19 Southeastern Louisiana W 82-67 Last Meeting: MSU, 77-55 (11-15-08, Starkville) N 21 Bethune-Cookman W 67-51 XM Radio: N/A N 24 Texas-Pan American W 75-50 Offi cials: Tony Greene, Pat Adams, John Hampton N 27 @vs. Richmond (FCS) L 63-62 N 28 @vs. Old Dominion W 69-55 SATURDAY’S PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP D 5 St. Bonaventure W 105-53 MISSISSIPPI STATE CENTENARY D 10 #vs. DePaul (ESPN2) W 76-45 3 G Dee Bost, So., 6-2, 170 14 G Roman Tubner, Jr., 6-0, 190 D 12 %vs. UCLA (Fox Sports Net) W 72-54 2 G Ravern Johnson, Jr., 6-7, 175 20 G David Perez, So., 6-3, 195 D 16 Wright State (ESPN2) W 80-69 22 G Barry Stewart, Sr., 6-3, 170 21 F Matt Marseille, Fr., 6-6, 200 D 19 at Houston (CSS) W 70-64 24 F Kodi Augustus, Jr., 6-8, 220 22 G Daman Starring, Fr., 6-4, 190 D 22 Centenary (at Jackson) 7 p.m. 32 F Jarvis Varnado, Sr., 6-9, 230 30 F Jerrald Bonham, Sr., 6-8, 210 D 28 Mississippi Valley State 7 p.m. Top Reserves: F Romero Osby, Top Reserves: G Pedro Maciel, G Phil Turner G Maxx Nakwaasah D 31 at San Diego 6 p.m. J 4 at Western Kentucky (CSS) 8 p.m. FOR STANSBURY, IT ALL STARTED IN JACKSON J 9 at Ole Miss (SEC Network) 12:30 p.m. On November 17, 1998, a new era of Mississippi State basketball was ushered J 14 Arkansas (ESPNU) 6 p.m. in when Rick Stansbury coached his fi rst game for the Maroon & White. J 16 Georgia (ESPN or ESPN2) 2 p.m. J 23 at Alabama (CBS) 11 a.m. It was indeed a successful start, as Stansbury’s debut at the helm resulted in J 28 at Arkansas (ESPN or ESPN2) 8 p.m. a 105-53 victory against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. J 30 LSU (SEC Network) 12:30 p.m. For the new coach, it was the fi rst of eight-straight wins to start the year. That victory in the capital city, however, was bitter-sweet. Following the game, F 3 at Vanderbilt (SEC Network) 7 p.m. Stansbury learned his mother, Norma, had passed away in Florida. F 6 at Florida (SEC Network) 12:30 p.m. F 11 Ole Miss (ESPN or ESPN2) 8 p.m. WITH JACKSON COMES GREAT ACCURACY F 13 Auburn (FSN) 6 p.m. In the seven games Mississippi State has played in Jackson’s Mississippi Coli- F 16 Kentucky (ESPN) 8 p.m. F 20 at LSU (SEC Network) 3 p.m. seum with Rick Stansbury at the helm, the Bulldogs are shooting 51.2 percent F 24 Alabama (CSS) 8 p.m. from the fl oor (220-430), while holding opponents to 32.2 percent (156-485). F 27 at South Carolina (ESPN) 5 p.m. State’s margin of victory has also been impressive, an average of 28.3 points. MSU has won nine straight in Jackson and is 13-5 all-time. M 3 at Auburn (SEC Network) 7 p.m. M 6 Tennessee (ESPN) 5 p.m. 12 AND COUNTING FOR STANSBURY M 11-14 SEC Tournament (Nashville) TBA Tuesday’s showdown with the Gents marks MSU’s 12th “home” game played @ - South Padre Island Invitational in the Magnolia State away from Humphrey Coliseum since Rick Stansbury # - SEC/Big East Challenge (Tampa, FL) was named head coach. The Bulldogs are currently 11-0 in those games. Mis- % - John R. Wooden Classic (Anaheim, CA) sissippi State is 7-0 at Mississippi Coliseum, 2-0 at the BancorpSouth Center in Tupelo, and 2-0 at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven. VARNADO’S COUNTDOWN TO HISTORY COACHING FACTS Following his fi ve-block performance at Houston last Saturday, Jarvis Varnado now has a nation-best 58 for the year and 452 for his career. MISSISSIPPI STATE As a result, the Brownsville, Tenn., native is 83 shy of tying the NCAA mark of Coach: Rick Stansbury 535 held by former Louisiana-Monroe standout Wojciech Mydra (1998-2002). Record at MSU: 240-130, 12th year Varnado, who has led the nation the past two years in this category, is currently Overall Record: Same tied for fi fth all-time with Tarvis Williams (Hampton) in the NCAA record books. To get the record by the end of the regular season, Varnado needs to average 4.2 blocks in the next 20 games. CENTENARY MSU BY THE NUMBER Coach: Greg Gary Record at Centenary: 12-29, 2nd year 22.2 — Mississippi State’s staunch defense held Houston’s high-octane of- fense to 22.2 points below its season average (86.2) on Saturday. Career Record: 12-29, 2nd year D eecadec a d e of CCHAMPIONSHIPSH A M P I O N S H I P S MMISSISSIPPIISSISSIPPI SSTATETATE BBASKETBALLASKETBALL GAME 12: CENTENARY 2 Statistical Comparison MSTATE 7-0 AGAINST SUMMIT LEAGUE FOES 2009-10 Stats MSU CENT Entering Tuesday’s showdown against Centenary, the Bulldogs are 7-0 against the 12 teams that currently comprise the Summit League. 2009-10 Record 9-2 6-3 However, Mississippi State has only played Centenary and Oral Rob- Conference Record 0-0 0-0 erts. Scoring 75.6 80.0 While MSU is 6-0 against the Gents, it defeated Oral Roberts 91-69 in Scoring Defense 59.9 85.9 December of 1978. Scoring Margin +15.7 -5.9 Field Goal Pct. 46.7 43.2 MSU ENJOYS MORE NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS Opp.FG Pct. 36.2 48.6 Including last year’s 10-6 ledger against non-conference foes coupled 3-Point FG Pct. 41.5 36.8 with this year’s 9-2 mark, MSU has compiled a dominant 130-41 (.760) Opp. 3-Point FG Pct. 34.7 32.8 record against non-conference opponents during the Rick Stansbury era Free Throw Pct. 69.2 76.1 (since 1998-99), including a 122-32 (.792) regular-season. Opp. FT Pct. 64.7 71.6 Rebounding Average 42.3 32.2 MISSISSIPPI STATE’S RECORD WHEN . Opp. Rebounding Avg. 33.2 41.1 During the Rick Stansbury era, the Bulldogs are: 190-27 when leading Rebound Margin +9.1 -8.9 at halftime (8-0 this year); 168-32 (6-0) when shooting 45 percent or bet- Assists 13.1 14.8 ter from the fi eld; 199-61 (9-0) when the opposition shoots less than 45 Turnovers 14.1 16.7 percent from the fi eld; 192-69 (8-1) when out-rebounding or tying oppo- Turnover Margin -3.5 +0.6 nents; and 147-26 (7-1) when holding opponents to 65 points or less. Steals 5.3 8.9 Blocked Shots 8.4 1.7 DECEMBER DOMINANCE UNDER STANSBURY Including last year’s 3-3 mark coupled with this year’s 5-0 record, the Statistical Leaders Bulldogs are 69-15 (.821) in the month of December since Rick Stans- Scoring bury was named head coach. MSU PPG CENT PPG Dating back to the 1987-88 season when Richard Williams was over- Johnson ..... 14.4 Perez ........20.4 seeing the program, Mississippi State owns a composite ledger of 127-39 Varnado ..... 14.2 Tubner ........12.6 (.765) in December. Rebounding STEWART, VARNADO CLOSING IN ON MILESTONES MSU RPG CENT RPG From 2000-03, Derrick Zimmerman played in 127 games. From 1980- Varnado ..... 10.7 Bonham ..........5.5 83, Kalpatrick Wells started 110 games. Turner .......... 5.0 Marseille ..........4.6 Both are school records. Both are likely to fall later this year. Assists Currently, Jarvis Varnado has played in 116 and has drawn 94 starts, MSU APG CENT APG while fellow senior Barry Stewart has appeared in 116 games with 81 Bost ............. 5.5 Tubner ..........4.2 starts to his credit. Stewart is also likely to break Jeff Malone’s minutes-played record of Stewart ........ 2.5 Starring ..........2.7 3,851. He currently has 3,570 and needs to average around 14 minutes Blocks for the rest of the regular season to set a new mark. Currently, he’s aver- MSU BPG CENT BPG aging 33.6 minutes through the fi rst 10 games. Varnado ....... 5.3 Bonham ..........0.9 Augustus...... 1.1 Swartz ..........0.4 RAINING 3s . AGAIN Steals Last year, Mississippi State set a single-season record with 296 made MSU SPG CENT SPG 3-pointers. Already, the Bulldogs are ahead of that pace. Turner .......... 1.4 Tubner ..........2.0 MSU has connected on 112 of its 270 attempts through the fi rst 11 games. In comparison, State was 74 of 219 through the fi rst 11 games Bost ............. 1.1 Perez ..........2.4 last year. If the pace continues, the Bulldogs will fi nish with 316 in just the Field Goal Percentage (50 minimum) regular season. MSU FG% CENT FG% Ravern Johnson leads MSU with 33 3-pointers and is on pace to fi nish Varnado ....