Two college basketball teams headed in opposite directions will meet in Nashville today.
Unfortunately for Mississippi State, it isn’t the squad on the positive end of that equation.
MSU (15-4, 2-2 in Southeastern Confer-ence) is ranked 18th in the latest Associated Press poll. The Bulldogs will try again to remove the stigma of being 0-2 in league road games tonight against a Vanderbilt team that has won its past eight contests and firmly regained its momentum as one of the league’s premier teams.
Memorial Gymna-sium on Vanderbilt’s campus — opened in 1952 — with its benches situated on the baseline, a playing court that sits above portions of the crowd and deafening acoustics makes this venue a nightmare for any visiting opponent.
“There’s no question Vanderbilt is one of the more difficult places to play in the country,” said 14th-year MSU coach Rick Stansbury, who is 10-8 all-time against the Commodores. “That setup makes it very difficult, but you know that going in. But more than the setup is the fact Vanderbilt is a very good team. It’s going to be challenge.”
The Commodores (14-4, 4-0) thoroughly dispatched a quality opponent on the road Thursday night at Alabama as their pair of offensive stars, John Jenkins and Jeffrey Taylor, combined for 37 points in a 69-59 win over the Crimson Tide.
Vanderbilt trailed by six in the first half in Tuscaloosa, Ala., before exploding. The Commodores started a 30-7 run that extended well into the second half, and Alabama never collected itself.
“What we did (Thursday), I thought was very impressive,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. “We didn’t play the first five minutes of the game very well, and we didn’t play the last five of it very well, but I thought the middle 30 we were pretty sharp.”
The efficiency in the halfcourt of that pair of likely NBA draft picks is why Vanderbilt is tops in the SEC and 18th in the country in points per possession. MSU men’s basketball spokesman Gregg Ellis announced on his Twitter account Friday afternoon that at least 18 NBA scouts were scheduled to evaluate tonight’s game showcasing the talent on the floor between the teams.
This contest features four of the league’s top five scorers, as MSU junior forward Arnett Moultrie is fourth at 16.1, while senior All-SEC guard Dee Bost is fifth at 16.0. Moultrie also leads the league in rebounding at 11.0 boards, while his 10 double-doubles are tied for the most.
“We just got to bounce back,” said Bost, who is first in the SEC in minutes played (34.2), second in steals (2.2) and fourth in assists (4.4). “We didn’t have one of our better games at Ole Miss, and now it’s time to redeem ourselves.”
At Tad Smith Coliseum, MSU allowed its first signs of offensive impatience this year as the Dogs took 29 shots from beyond the 3-point arc and connected on 10 of those attempts.
“They played a lot of zone (defense) … but yes, that’s a bunch of (3-point) shots,” Stansbury said. “You got to come away with possessions where you’re either getting fouled or something good. We let a couple get away on transition, that’s for sure.”
The Bulldogs have dropped two straight to Vanderbilt and three in a row in Memorial Gymnasium. Their last win there came in 2004 (72-69) after claiming a 66-43 decision in 2002.
MSU returns to Humphrey Coliseum on Wednesday against LSU.
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