MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY 2007-08 MEN’S BASKETBALL Mississippi State University Athletic Media Relations • PO Box 5308 • MSU, MS 39762 Men’s Basketball SID: David Rosinski • 662-325-3595 • [email protected] Game #30 - #25 Mississippi State (20-9, 11-4) vs. LSU (13-16, 6-9) Saturday, March 8, 2008 • 3 p.m. CT • Starkville, Miss. Humphrey Coliseum (10,500) • Raycom Sports #25 MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS (20-9, 11-4) 2007-08 MSU RESULTS (20-9, 11-4) Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG APG DATE OPPONENT (TV) SCORE/TIME F 23 Charles Rhodes 6-8 245 Sr. Jackson, MS 16.4 7.7 1.3 bpg Nov. 10 LOUISIANA TECH W 75-45 Nov. 15 CLEMSON (FSN/SUN) L 82-84 C 32 Jarvis Varnado 6-9 210 So. Brownsville, TN 7.8 8.0 4.7 bpg Nov. 17 UT MARTIN W 86-70 G 22 Barry Stewart 6-2 170 So. Shelbyville, TN 11.9 4.6 2.7 Nov. 22 #UC Irvine (ESPNU) W 68-53 Nov. 23 #Southern Illinois (ESPN2) L 49-63 UBSTITUTES G 11 Ben Hansbrough 6-3 205 So. Poplar Bluff, MO 10.3 3.8 2.6 S Nov. 23 #Miami [OH] (ESPN2) L 60-67 G 44 Jamont Gordon 6-4 230 Jr. Nashville, TN 17.3 6.2 4.8 Dec. 1 MURRAY STATE W 78-61 OP G/F 2 Ravern Johnson 6-7 175 Fr. Lyon, MS 2.8 1.1 0.4 Dec. 8 SOUTHEASTERN LA. (CSS) W 84-59 Dec. 13 MIAMI [FL] (FSN/SUN) L 58-64 F/C 45 Elgin Bailey 6-8 265 Fr. New Orleans, LA 1.9 1.7 0.3 bpg Dec. 15 *at South Alabama (CSS) L 67-71 & T Dec. 19 at Loyola Marymount W 85-54 IGERS Dec. 21 at A&M-Corpus Christi (CSS) W 95-70 LSU T (13-16, 6-9) Dec. 30 MISSOURI (SS) W 87-75 Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG APG Jan. 5 ^Lafayette College W 77-53 F 3 Anthony Randolph 6-10 205 Fr. Dallas, TX 15.4 8.4 2.4 bpg Jan. 9 at LSU W 61-39 TARTERS C 21 Chris Johnson 6-11 205 Jr. Montross, VA 11.3 6.3 2.8 bpg Jan. 12 GEORGIA (RS) W 60-49 S Jan. 15 KENTUCKY (ESPN) W 69-64 G 5 Marcus Thornton 6-4 198 Jr. Baton Rouge, LA 19.1 5.7 1.4 Jan. 19 at Alabama (RS) W 66-56 G 14 Garrett Temple 6-6 195 Jr. Baton Rouge, LA 6.8 4.2 3.7 Jan. 26 MISSISSIPPI (FSN/SUN) W 88-68 G 30 Alex Farrer 6-5 200 So. Phoenix, AZ 2.8 1.6 1.2 Jan. 30 at Arkansas (RS) L 58-78 Feb. 2 TENNESSEE (FSN/SUN) L 71-76 G 13 Terry Martin 6-6 207 Jr. Monroe, LA 8.4 2.5 1.7 Feb. 6 ALABAMA W 73-66 ROBABLE Feb. 9 at Auburn (FSN/SUN) W 83-64 P G 11 Bo Spencer 6-1 180 Fr. Baton Rouge, LA 3.6 1.2 1.4 Feb. 16 ARKANSAS (ESPN) W 80-74 Officials: TBA Feb. 20 at Mississippi (CSS-TD) L 63-74 Feb. 23 at South Carolina (RS) ot W 61-56 MSTATE HOSTS LSU AND HONORS 1962-63 TEAM TO CLOSE OUT HOME SLATE Feb. 27 AUBURN W 89-78 Having a week ago clinched the outright SEC Western Division title, the Bulldogs of Mississippi Mar. 1 at Florida (CBS) W 68-59 State (20-9, 11-4) close out their regular-season slate by playing host to the resurgent LSU Tigers (13- Mar. 5 at Vanderbilt ot L 85-86 16, 6-9) Saturday afternoon on the MSU campus. Tip-off time for the 193rd all-time series renewal Mar. 8 LSU (RS) 3 p.m. between these divisional rivals is set for 3 p.m. CT at Humphrey Coliseum. The contest will be tel- M. 13-16 +at SEC Tournament (RS/CBS) TBA evised regionally by Raycom Sports and can also be heard on XM Satellite Radio Channel 231. Prior to the Saturday afternoon clash, MState senior players Charles Rhodes and Billy Begley, # - Anaheim Classic (Anaheim, CA) as well as senior manager Lan Ingram, will be recognized during ‘Senior Day’ festivities. At half- * - Coors Classic (Mobile, AL) time, Mississippi State will honor the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament team, as players and ^ - at Jackson, MS (Mississippi Coliseum) staff members from the 1962-63 MSU club return to campus for a special weekend of activities. + - at Atlanta, GA (Georgia Dome) Coach Rick Stansbury’s 20-9 Bulldogs have secured the SEC West’s No. 1 seed in next week’s SEC All Times CT Tournament to be held at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. MSU owns an 11-4 conference mark after drop- ping a heartbreaking 86-85 overtime decision to 16th-ranked Vanderbilt this past Wednesday at his- MSU-LSU GAME FACTS toric Memorial Gymnasium. As a team, the Bulldogs still rank second among the NCAA leaders in field-goal percentage defense (.368) and blocked shots (8.03 bpg). With a school-record 233 blocks on the year, MSU needs eight more rejects to break the current all-time SEC single-season mark of MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS 240 blocks set by the 1997-98 Kentucky club in 39 games. Coach: Rick Stansbury Individually, State is paced by the all-SEC tandem of junior Jamont Gordon (17.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg & Alma Mater: (Campbellsville, 1982) 4.8 apg) and Rhodes (16.4 ppg, 7.7 rpg & 56% FGs). Currently, Gordon and Rhodes rank ninth and MSU Record: 205-113 (10th year) -- 12-9 vs. LSU 11th on MSU’s all-time scoring list with 1,476 and 1,339 career points, respectively. Rhodes and Gordon also stand 14th and 15th in career rebounding with 648 and 634 boards, respectively. Earlier Career Record: 205-113 (10th year) -- 12-9 vs. LSU this week, Gordon moved to third on the school’s all-time list with 455 career assists. IGERS Guided by interim head coach and former MSU point guard Butch Pierre, the revitalized LSU LSU T Tigers are 13-16 overall and 6-9 in SEC play. However, LSU is 5-3, including a current four-game Interim Coach: Butch Pierre winning streak, since Pierre took over for John Brady last month. The Tigers are led in scoring by Alma Mater: (Mississippi State, 1984) junior guard Marcus Thornton, who ranks second in the league in scoring (19.1 ppg) behind School Record: 5-3 (1st year) Vanderbilt’s Shan Foster. Freshman forward Anthony Randolph averages 15.4 points and a team- Career Record: 5-3 (1st year) high 8.4 rebounds, while junior center Chris Johnson adds 11.3 points, 6.3 boards and 2.8 blocks. Along with being recognized during halftime the Bulldogs are just eight swats away from SERIES INFORMATION of Saturday’s MSU-LSU game, State’s first breaking the current SEC season standard of 240 Series Record: LSU leads, 101-91 NCAA Tournament team from 1962-63 will also blocks set by the 1997-98 Kentucky club. at Starkville: MSU leads, 55-35 be honored guests of the NCAA later this month Having opened SEC play with a 61-39 win at at Baton Rouge: LSU leads, 63-33 at the Detroit men’s basketball regional. LSU, the Bulldogs are bidding for their first This Season: MSU, 61-39 (1-9-08 @ LSU) The Bulldogs are 7-2 in ‘Senior Day’ contests back-to-back season series sweeps of LSU since Last Season: MSU, 85-78 (2-3-07 @ MSU); during the Rick Stansbury era, including last sweeping the Tigers five straight years (1994-98). MSU, 56-50 (2-17-07 @ LSU) year’s 91-67 victory over Alabama... MSU last The current SEC Player of the Week, senior hosted LSU in a ‘Senior Day’ contest back in Charles Rhodes has become the third different TELEVISION: RAYCOM SPORTS 1990-91 when the Bulldogs and Tigers shared Bulldog player (joining Jamont Gordon and TALENT: DAVE BAKER (PXP); BARRY BOOKER (COLOR) the SEC title prior to the start of divisional play. Barry Stewart) to earn the league’s weekly honor SATELLITE RADIO: XM 231 Having already established a new single-sea- this season... MSU joins SEC leader Tennessee as Available on MSU’s 29-station radio network through- son school mark for blocks for the second the only two schools to have more than one indi- out Mississippi and via www.mstateathletics.com straight year (233 this season and 222 last year), vidual collect the SEC’s weekly honor this year. PxP: Jack Cristil (51st year); Color: Jim Ellis (25th year) STATISTICAL COMPARISON BULLDOGS LOOK TO SWEEP LSU TIGERS FOR SECOND STRAIGHT SEASON VS In a long-standing conference and divisional rivalry dating back to Mississippi State’s first season MSU . LSU of collegiate basketball competition (1908-09), the LSU Tigers hold a 101-91 all-time series advantage MSU LSU over the Bulldogs. A year ago, the Bulldogs swept LSU for the first time since their 2003-04 SEC cham- Overall Record . .20-9 13-16 pionship season by prevailing both in Starkville (85-78) and Baton Rouge (56-50) within a two-week span last February. Including last year’s season sweep of the Tigers and this year’s 61-39 road win SEC Record . .11-4 6-9 over the Tigers back on Jan.