Mississippi St

Mississippi St 2010 NIT Preview

Joel Welser — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:02:18 -0400

Mississippi State Bulldogs

Southeastern Conference (23-11, 9-7)

Seed: #1

Big Wins: 11/28 vs Old Dominion (69-55), 3/12 vs Florida (75-69), 3/13 vs Vanderbilt (62-52)

Bad Losses: 11/13 Rider (74-88), 1/4 at Western Kentucky (52-55), 1/28 at Arkansas (62-67)

Coach: Rick Stansbury

Why They Can Surprise:

Not long ago Jarvis Varnado was a complimentary player who blocked a lot of shots. He is still one of the best shot blockers in the nation and totaled an incredible 163 blocked shots on the season and is the NCAA’s all-time leader in that category, but he does so much more than that. Varnado was a solid rebounder as well and this year is no different. However, now he is also emerging as a consistent scoring threat under the basket. Quite a few of his buckets are easy put-backs off of offensive rebounds, but Varnado is an efficient scorer and the frontcourt’s best scoring option.

Kodi Augustus has stepped into the starting spot at the power forward position. While he is a capable outside shooter, Augustus has struggled in that department for much of the season. Yet, Augustus’ presence under the basket has nullified the Bulldogs poor rebounding of a year ago. That allows Ravern Johnson to move back to the small forward spot. And Johnson has thrived. He is a great shooter from long range no matter which position he is playing and his 6-7 frame has helped the team turn rebounding from a problem to a strength.

Why They Can Disappoint:

Turnovers are Mississippi State’s biggest problem. Dee Bost did not look like a freshman last year and with a year of experience under his belt he has only gotten better. On a team that loves to play tough defense, it is often not necessary for Bost to force the action. That is especially true this season when Varnado can create offense under the basket in the half-court offense. But Bost will still force a few too many passes. The lack of depth is also a concern, but Coach Rick Stansbury does a good job keeping the minutes manageable so nobody gets too tired down the stretch and only one team in the nation commits fewer fouls than the Bulldogs so that is rarely an issue.

Who To Watch:

Barry Stewart is the unsung star of this team. He is not as prolific of a shooter as Johnson or as great of a playmaker as Bost, but he is a nice mix of the two. Stewart averages 11.7 points per game and is a staple at the shooting guard spot. When Stewart’s shot is falling, Mississippi State has four great scorers and that makes them very difficult to defend. Phil Turner is the one player off the bench who makes an impact every game. The 6-3 guard is a great rebounder for his size and, again, has helped turned the Bulldogs into a solid rebounding team. Turner is a tough player and a tough defender, who could be very dangerous if his jumper was more consistent.

Probable Starters:

Dee Bost, Sophomore, Guard, 12.8 ppg, 5.2 apg, 4.4 rpg

Barry Stewart, Senior, Guard, 11.7 ppg, 2.7 apg

Raven Johnson, Junior, Guard, 13.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg

Kodi Augustus, Junior, Forward, 8.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg

Jarvis Varnado, Senior, Forward, 13.6 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 4.8 bpg

Key Roleplayers:

Riley Benock, Junior, Guard, 1.7 ppg, 1.0 rpg

Romero Osby, Sophomore, Forward, 4.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg

Phil Turner, Junior, Guard, 5.4 ppg, 1.3 apg

By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 72.8 (92^nd in nation, 7^th in conference)

Scoring Defense: 64.4 (77, 1)

Field-Goal Percentage: 43.4 (183, 10)

Field-Goal Defense: 38.4 (10, 2)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 9.2 (6, 1)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 35.9 (92, 3)

Free-Throw Percentage: 68.3 (198, 7)

Rebound Margin: 2.8 (87, 3)

Assists Per Game: 13.0 (176, 10)

Turnovers Per Game: 13.0 (107, 6)

Joel’s Bracket Says: Second Round loss to William & Mary

Follow Joel Welser's Postseason Capsules & College Basketball Previews on Twitter@Joel_Welser and on his Facebook page. Joel will be back in June for his annual Top 144 Teams in 144 Days preview on CollegeHoops.net

BubbleBoard: Selection Sunday Final

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:07:55 -0400

RPI #'s updated as of 3/14/10, 12:30 am.

The BubbleBoard returns again in 2010. CHN ranks at-large contenders using a variety of standard resume components. The BubbleBoard ranking is a modified RPI, that gives extra credit for success against Top 50 teams & games away from home. The purpose of the BubbleBoard is to weed out those teams that may have a high RPI due to playing a seemingly challenging schedule, but either a) lost almost all their challenging games, or b) have won a few challenging games at home but have been sub-par away from home. Ultimately the tourney should feature teams with a track-record of beating good teams on neutral or road courts. Note: The BubbleBoard is not a prediction of what the committee will do, but a ranking based on previous results.. which is arguably a suggestion for what the committee should do.

This is the final BubbleBoard update of the season!

Top 3 Rising teams*: Minnesota, Mississippi St, Georgia Tech

Top 4 Falling teams: UTEP, California, Illinois

*Based on difference between yesterday's BubbleBoard

Top 5 Faker teams*: California, Memphis, Rhode Island, Louisville, Florida

Top 5 Dangerous teams: Wake Forest, UNLV, UTEP, Florida St, Utah St

*Faker teams are those that have struggled most away from home & against Top 50 teams as compared to their RPI.

Today's BubbleBoard Additions/Subtractions:

San Diego St & Washington now auto-bids. Removed ASU, Charlotte, Cincy, UCONN, Dayton, Wichita St

Into/Out of Projected At-Large Bid:

In: Minnesota

Out: California

How The Yellow At-Large Field Is Projected:

The yellow shading represents teams who would fit into the bubble. The 16th-18th teams (Missouri, Cal, VT) represents the expanded list considering the committee will certainly not take VCU or UAB, and most likely isnt taking URI either. (Along with the 27 current champs, there are 23 other at-large locks (listed below), 4 other tourney champs from within that 23, leaving 15 spots remaining.

	Team	RPI	SOS	NCSOS	Computer	T50 W	T50 L	R/N W	R/N L	L100 L	Bonus =	Total =	Was	Dif
#	Kansas	1	8	35	2	11	2	12	2	0	132	129	129	0
1	Wake Forest	37	23	75	24	6	4	6	8	0	42	18	19	-1
2	UNLV	49	111	233	41	5	4	12	5	3	37	-4	2	-6
3	Utah St	31	97	83	25	2	1	10	6	2	20	-5	-1	-4
4	Clemson	34	21	144	25	5	6	7	8	1	18	-7	-7	0
5	UTEP	39	108	186	34	2	1	11	4	2	26	-8	2	-10
6	Georgia Tech	33	16	143	24	5	6	8	9	2	13	-10	-14	4
7	Florida St	42	53	219	33	4	6	9	6	0	21	-13	-13	0
8	Notre Dame	44	37	214	33	5	4	5	8	3	14	-20	-20	0
9	Oklahoma St	29	25	132	22	4	7	7	9	1	0	-22	-22	0
10	UAB	46	98	105	34	1	3	11	5	2	3	-32	-32	0
11	Louisville	38	5	19	22	3	7	5	8	1	-14	-36	-37	1
12	Minnesota	58	49	63	37	5	6	7	9	4	1	-36	-53	17
13	Marquette	50	41	184	36	4	9	9	7	1	-3	-39	-39	0
14	VCU	65	134	84	46	3	2	7	8	4	4	-42	-42	0
15	Rhode Island	40	100	35	29	1	5	10	7	2	-15	-43	-36	-7
16	Missouri	45	49	191	34	4	7	6	8	3	-11	-45	-45	0
17	California	22	7	1	13	1	6	8	9	3	-34	-46	-37	-9
18	Virginia Tech	60	162	344	53	3	4	8	7	2	7	-47	-44	-3
19	Florida	54	34	120	36	3	8	8	8	1	-12	-48	-46	-2
20	Seton Hall	61	35	171	41	4	9	6	8	0	-7	-48	-48	0
21	Ole Miss	62	85	146	44	2	6	9	6	1	-5	-49	-47	-2
22	Mississippi St	56	114	220	44	2	4	11	7	4	-6	-51	-67	16
23	Memphis	53	68	53	35	2	5	7	6	4	-20	-55	-55	0
24	Illinois	75	39	130	48	5	9	7	10	2	-8	-55	-46	-9
25	South Florida	71	95	247	53	3	8	9	8	1	-9	-62	-61	-1

*Teams leading their leagues

Yellow = Approximate bubble cut-off

NC-SOS = Non-conference strength of schedule

Computer = Modified RPI taking into account SOS/NCSOS a bit more

Bonus = Modifications due to Top 50 & R/N success

R/N = Road/neutral

L100L = Lower than 100 losses

Lock Teams Not Listed (23): Syracuse, Kentucky, Villanova, Duke, Purdue, Georgetown, Michigan St, Kansas St, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Ohio St, Temple, BYU, Gonzaga, Pittsburgh, Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Xavier, Maryland, Richmond

Today's BubbleBoard Thoughts:

Minnesota's rise is complete as the BubbleBoard now says their in. Quite a turnaround considering they were about 40th on the larger list just a week or two back. As usual, the computers still favor UAB, VCU, and Rhode Island so I've shown the expanded bubble. In reality, the final 2 spots in the field may come down to 2 of Illinois, Minnesota, Mississippi St, and Virginia Tech. The BubbleBoard favors Minnesota & VT in that scenario. Cal & Missouri are barely hanging in, and may very well be over-seeded in the tournament.. the BubbleBoard says these 2 are overrated and potential 1st round tournament victims. Utah St & UTEP, who both lost yesterday, are still tournament worthy. UTEP's seeding definitely took a blow though, while the Utah St loss shouldn't effect things too much because NMSU is a quality opponent.

What do you think about the Bubble today?

Poll: Will Mississippi St Make the NCAA Tournament?

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:42:23 -0500

Poll: Which SEC Bubble Team Has the Best Shot To Get In?

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:48:48 -0500

Poll: Who Helped Themselves the Most Friday?

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 09:13:08 -0500

Poll: Who Will Win the SEC Tournament?

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:22:19 -0500

BubbleBoard 3/1: Ranking the Bubble Teams

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:01:12 -0500

RPI #'s updated as of 3/01/10, 4:00 pm.

The BubbleBoard returns again in 2010. CHN ranks at-large contenders using a variety of standard resume components. The BubbleBoard ranking is a modified RPI, that gives extra credit for success against Top 50 teams & games away from home. The purpose of the BubbleBoard is to weed out those teams that may have a high RPI due to playing a seemingly challenging schedule, but either a) lost almost all their challenging games, or b) have won a few challenging games at home but have been sub-par away from home. Ultimately the tourney should feature teams with a track-record of beating good teams on neutral courts. Note: The BubbleBoard is not a prediction of what the committee will do, but a ranking based on previous results.. which is arguably a suggestion for what the committee should do.

The BubbleBoard will be updated again on Thursday.

Top 5 Rising teams*: Notre Dame, Maryland, Northeastern, Xavier, Louisville

Top 5 Falling teams: UCONN, Old Dominion, VCU, Cincinnati, Memphis

*Based on difference between last week's BubbleBoard

Top 5 Faker teams*: California, UCONN, Wichita St, Memphis, Arizona St

Top 5 Dangerous teams: Richmond, Baylor, UNLV, St Mary's, Maryland

*Faker teams are those that have struggled most away from home & against Top 50 teams as compared to their RPI.

Today's BubbleBoard Additions/Subtractions:

Louisiana Tech & Tulsa no longer tracked.

Into/Out of Projected At-Large Bid:

In: Louisville

Out: UCONN

Today's BubbleBoard Thoughts:

Amazing what one week can do. UCONN went from being firmly in the bubble to almost 10 spots out after a disappointing home loss to Louisville. Maryland, Xavier, Baylor, and Clemson move into virtual "lock" status at this point, along with Richmond. I've left those teams on for reference at this point, as all would certainly make the tournament at this point. The same can be said for Oklahoma St. It will be extremely interesting to see what the committee does with projected league champions such as Utah St, Old Dominion, UTEP, and Cal. Except for Cal, the BubbleBoard thinks the prior 3 are tournament worthy and that Cal is firmly on the bubble. Would the committee take Utah St or Old Dominion as at-large teams if they lose their tournaments? We can only speculate.

Last week, Notre Dame was 20 spots out of the field, but the addition of two Top 50 teams puts them in much better position. If UCONN adds 1 more Top 50 win this week and moves up 8 spots in the RPI, they'd be in. In general, the BubbleBoard is not particularly impressed with the Big East bubble teams, with the exception of Louisville. UCONN, Marquette, Notre Dame, and Seton Hall are a combined 12-28 against Top 50 teams, and 16-29 away from home. The BubbleBoard sees those 12 Top 50 wins as being a matter of simply getting so many bites of the apple at home, that eventually they've each pulled off some big wins. The BubbleBoard also disrespects Mississippi St, who is in many "Bracketology" fields. MSU has only 1 Top 50 win, yet they have 4 losses to teams below 100th.. a ratio that is far from tournament worthy.

How The Yellow At-Large Field Is Projected:

The yellow shading represents teams who would fit into an approximate bubble. There are 25 "lock" teams (listed below), as well as 16 one-bid league champs not listed, and 3-4 probable league champs included in the BubbleBoard. This leaves about 21 teams with room to make the tournament. Teams with 10+ points are approaching "lock" status to make the tourney as of now. Teams with -10 or below still have work to do. (The 2 semi-shaded boxes represent the extended bubble if you consider that the committee almost certainly will not take VCU and William & Mary, despite what the computers say about them).

	Team	RPI	SOS	NCSOS	Computer	T50 W	T50 L	R/N W	R/N L	L100 L	Bonus =	Total =	Was	Dif
#	Kansas	1	19	41	3	8	2	9	2	0	92	89	97	-8
1	Richmond	28	73	72	22	5	2	9	6	0	53	32	35	-3
2	Baylor	11	28	129	12	5	4	8	5	2	32	20	5	15
3	Xavier**	12	24	17	9	5	7	7	7	0	19	10	-11	21
4	Maryland	25	23	159	20	4	5	6	6	0	19	-2	-25	23
5	Clemson	27	30	162	22	4	5	7	6	1	16	-6	-20	14
6	Oklahoma St	26	18	124	19	4	5	6	7	1	12	-8	-14	6
7	UAB	35	111	88	28	1	2	11	3	1	17	-12	-1	-11
8	UNLV	43	96	207	36	4	4	10	4	3	23	-13	-10	-3
9	Saint Mary's	45	142	73	35	2	3	10	3	1	19	-16	-12	-4
10	Rhode Island	37	68	27	25	2	4	9	5	1	8	-18	-5	-13
11	Utah St**	34	92	81	27	1	1	8	5	2	6	-21	-13	-8
12	William & Mary	60	107	23	40	3	3	9	6	2	17	-23	-14	-9
13	Louisville	32	5	19	19	3	6	5	6	1	-5	-23	-41	18
14	UTEP**	50	151	194	42	1	1	9	3	1	17	-25	-29	4
15	Georgia Tech	33	20	131	24	4	6	5	8	2	-3	-27	-19	-8
16	Missouri	36	49	195	29	4	6	5	7	2	-1	-30	-24	-6
17	Florida	48	59	130	34	3	6	7	6	1	0	-34	-33	-1
18	Dayton	41	37	22	25	3	6	5	8	1	-8	-34	-28	-6
19	Florida St	42	50	220	33	3	7	8	5	1	-1	-34	-29	-5
20	Old Dominion**	38	77	9	25	1	4	8	8	1	-11	-37	-18	-19
21	San Diego St	39	56	125	29	2	5	7	7	2	-12	-40	-34	-6
22	VCU	66	145	113	48	3	1	5	7	4	6	-42	-25	-17
23	Cincinnati	58	17	45	34	4	8	4	9	0	-8	-43	-29	-14
24	Virginia Tech	52	156	343	49	2	4	7	6	0	6	-43	-32	-11
25	South Florida	67	64	239	48	3	5	7	7	1	4	-44	-43	-1
26	California**	21	4	1	12	0	4	5	8	2	-34	-46	-42	-4
27	Charlotte	62	112	167	46	3	7	9	6	1	0	-46	-35	-11
28	Northeastern	72	82	10	44	3	3	10	7	6	-3	-47	-69	22
29	Marquette	49	67	202	37	3	7	7	6	2	-10	-48	-62	14
30	Illinois	73	64	118	48	4	6	6	8	2	0	-48	-44	-4
31	Ole Miss	55	65	150	39	2	7	8	5	1	-12	-50	-61	11
32	Washington	53	58	44	34	2	2	2	7	4	-18	-52	-47	-5
33	UCONN	44	2	6	25	3	8	3	8	2	-30	-54	-31	-23
34	Notre Dame	68	60	213	48	3	4	3	8	2	-7	-55	-86	31
35	Arizona St	54	74	77	36	1	5	6	6	2	-23	-59	-51	-8
36	St Louis	87	137	223	63	3	2	4	7	3	3	-60	-52	-8
37	Minnesota	70	38	74	43	3	6	4	8	3	-21	-64	-60	-4
38	Seton Hall	63	16	170	41	3	9	3	7	0	-23	-64	-57	-7
39	Mississippi St	56	128	235	46	1	4	9	6	4	-20	-66	-72	6
40	Memphis	64	98	66	43	1	5	6	5	3	-26	-69	-56	-13
41	Wichita St	51	138	301	46	1	3	6	8	4	-26	-71	-64	-7

*Teams leading their leagues

Yellow = Approximate bubble cut-off

NC-SOS = Non-conference strength of schedule

Computer = Modified RPI taking into account SOS/NCSOS a bit more

Bonus = Modifications due to Top 50 & R/N success

R/N = Road/neutral

L100L = Lower than 100 losses

Lock Teams: Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Villanova, Duke, Purdue, Georgetown, Michigan St, West Virginia, Kansas St, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Ohio St, Temple, BYU, Gonzaga, Northern Iowa, Butler, Siena, Cornell, Wake Forest, Texas, Texas A&M

As teams move in and out of bubble consideration, the teams tracked will change in future weeks.

Bracketology: Florida Rises, Bulldogs In, ASU Close

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:56:24 -0500

The Bracketology field is based on how the tourney looks "as of this moment." The field below is not based on who I think deserves to be in, but a prediction of what the committee would do as things stand. For the next few weeks, I'll be posting Bracketology updates every Tuesday & Friday. As March begins, I'll start releasing Bracketology updates daily leading up to Selection Sunday.

Why should you care what I have to say? In 2007 & 2008, I was considered to have one of the Top 2 or 3 brackets amongst 53 national experts including Joe Lunardi, Gary Parrish and the like. (Admittedly my 2009 final bracket was rather weak.. not sure what happened. Can't win 'em all.)

Notes:

Arrows indicate movement by seed. Green indicates new to the field this week. Conference champions are not my end of season predictions, but current leaders. (Ties atop conference standings go to the higher RPI team).

ONE

Kansas**

Kentucky**

Purdue**

Syracuse**

TWO

Duke**

Kansas State

Villanova

Ohio St

THREE

West Virginia

New Mexico**

Georgetown

Pittsburgh

FOUR

Michigan State

Vanderbilt

Wisconsin

BYU

FIVE

Butler**

Temple**

Texas

Gonzaga**

SIX

Tennessee

Richmond

Texas A&M

Maryland

SEVEN

Xavier

Baylor

Missouri

Northern Iowa**

EIGHT

Wake Forest

Florida State

Clemson

UTEP**

NINE

UNLV

California**

Florida

Illinois

TEN

Oklahoma St

UAB

Virginia Tech

Georgia Tech

ELEVEN

Old Dominion**

Louisville

Rhode Island

Marquette

TWELVE

Utah St**

UCONN

St. Mary's

Siena**

THIRTEEN

Mississippi St

Cornell**

Kent St**

Murray State**

FOURTEEN

Wofford**

Oakland**

Weber St**

Sam Houston St**

FIFTEEN

Coastal Carolina**

Morgan St**

UCSB**

Troy**

SIXTEEN + ONE

Stony Brook**

Jacksonville**

Robert Morris**

Lehigh** / Jackson St**

** = Automatic Bid

League Leaders/Winners (31)

- Leaders throughout the season are merely the first place team in the standings as of the update, and not projected winners. Ties go to the higher RPI team. New teams this week in green.

America East - Stony Brook

A-10 - Temple

ACC - Duke

Atlantic Sun - Jacksonville

Big 12 - Kansas

Big East - Syracuse

Big Sky - Weber St

Big South - Coastal Carolina

Big Ten - Purdue

Big West - UCSB

CAA - Old Dominion

Conference USA - UTEP

Horizon - Butler

Ivy - Cornell

MAAC - Siena

MAC - Kent St

MEAC - Morgan St

MVC - Northern Iowa

MWC - New Mexico

Northeast - Robert Morris

Ohio Valley - Murray St

Pac-10 - California

Patriot - Lehigh

SEC - Kentucky

Southern - Wofford

Southland - Sam Houston St

SWAC - Jackson St

Summit - Oakland

Sun Belt - Troy

WAC - Utah St

WCC - Gonzaga

*** = Locked Up Automatic Bid

Last In: Mississippi St, St. Mary's, UCONN, Marquette

Last Out: Charlotte, Arizona St, Seton Hall, San Diego St,

Further Four: Cincinnati, Dayton, Minnesota, Notre Dame

Dropped Out Of Field (at-large): Dayton

Post your thoughts on this week's field below:

SEC News & Notes: Blocks Record, POY, More

Jason Brubaker — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:20:39 -0500
Some SEC News & Notes, as I am trapped inside with around 18 inches of snow on the ground here in Cincinnati. (Yes, I realize other areas of the country have much more than that, but this gives me an excuse to be lazy and stay in front of the television watching college basketball). So without further ado, here's what's happening around the league.

•    Wayne Chism has never been the most popular player amongst opposing fans in the SEC, but even the most ardent Tennessee opponent has to admire his play this year. Since the dismissal of forward Tyler Smith, Chism has averaged 15 points and a little over eight rebounds per game, and has piled up three-double-doubles in that time, including a monster 26-point, 12-rebound effort in a win over Ole Miss. He’s also taken on more of a leadership role, playing through numerous injuries to help the Vols stay on track for the NCAA Tournament.. His inside/outside game causes mismatches for opponents, and he's even played his way onto the NBA radar as a possible second-round pick. If the Vols make any noise this postseason, it's a certainty Chism will lead the way.

•    LSU has been awful this year (0-11 in the SEC), but the play of Tasmin Mitchell shouldn't be overlooked. Mitchell is averaging 17 points and just a shade under 10 boards per game, and should surpass 2,000 career points by the end of the season. He's seen it all during his LSU career, visiting the Final Four as a freshman, suffering a season-ending injury as a junior, and now struggling to lead an undermanned team as a senior. However, his effort has always been terrific, and by all accounts, he's a terrific leader on and off the floor. I'm sure he envisioned a better senior season than this, but regardless, he deserves recognition for a great overall career.

•    The SEC Weekly Awards have been finding their way to Lexington quite a bit this year. Through the first 14 weeks, Kentucky has claimed 12 awards, including ten Freshmen of the Week awards and two Player of the Week awards. John Wall alone has five FOW awards, and his sixth could be on the way after a near triple double against Mississippi State. The next best school? Vanderbilt, with four awards, including two FOW awards for guard John Jenkins.

•    How different would Arkansas' record be if they had Courtney Fortson all season? Fortson was suspended the first 14 games of the season, as the Hogs went just 7-7. Since his return, he's averaged 19 points, five rebounds and six assists, and the Hogs have climbed to first in the jumbled SEC West. Fortson's energy and scoring ability has pumped life in Arkansas, and they're going to be a tough out in the SEC Tournament.

•    His team is just 14-11, and he's likely to go undrafted in the upcoming draft. He doesn't have the exposure of players like John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, and, if he wasn't in uniform, he might be mistaken for a team manager. Yet South Carolina's diminutive superstar, Devan Downey, has firmly planted himself in the SEC Player of the Year argument. In conference games, Downey is averaging a shade under 29 points per game, despite being the focal point of every opposing defense. Downey's detractors will point out that his numbers have been inflated because he has taken more than twice as many shots as anyone else on his team, which is currently fifth in the SEC East. However, what he's done this year is nothing short of remarkable for an undermanned team that needs him to score - and score big - to have a chance to win. The Gamecocks' record may prevent him from taking home the award, but I'd have a hard time arguing against him.

•    With five regular season games left, as well as at least a couple of postseason games, it's almost a certainty that Jarvis Varnado will end his career with more blocked shots than anyone in Division I history. The long-armed Mississippi State senior is only 14 blocks shy of tying Louisiana Monroe's Wojciech Mydra, who holds the record with 535 blocks. After Tuesday's loss to Kentucky, Varnado is averaging 4.9 blocks per game, meaning he should be in striking distance of the record during the Bulldogs' Feb. 27 match-up with South Carolina. Of course, he also has 24 career games with seven or more blocks, so he could get there even sooner. It's not every day that an NCAA career record falls, and Varnado should be congratulated on his efforts when he gets there.

•    And finally, to the Mississippi State fans who threw objects on the floor following the heart-breaking loss to Kentucky...grow up. Emotion and passion are what makes college sports great, and we've all been frustrated as fans when things don't go our team's way, but there's no excuse for what happened on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs were undermanned and outclassed in talent, yet played their tails off the entire game and nearly pulled off an incredible upset. But instead of their team being congratulated for their effort, it's the fan base that is getting the headlines, and for all the wrong reasons. I realize that it only takes a few fans to make an entire stadium or arena look bad, but this unfortunately gives a black eye to the entire university. Let's hope this is something we don't see again.

College Hoops Tuesday: Your Commentary

Raphielle Johnson — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:58:17 -0500

Mississippi State, who hasn't done enough to sew up an NCAA bid to this point in the season, has a great opportunity to do so in Starkville on Tuesday night. Kentucky comes calling on ESPN in a game that matches up likely lottery pick big men in DeMarcus Cousins and Jarvis Varnado. With an RPI of 58 and an overall strength of schedule of 118 (numbers courtesy of realtimerpi.com) they need at the least a solid effort if they're to be a part of the NCAA Tournament. Rick Stansbury's team has three Top 50 wins and two came against in-state rival Ole Miss (the other came against Old Dominion on a neutral court). And with just one more Top 50 opportunity (regular season finale against Tennessee), the Bulldogs could sew up an at-large berth on Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs have won the last three meetings in the series but to say the least these aren't the same Wildcats. John Wall and Eric Bledsoe led the way in Kentucky's win over Tennessee on Saturday night, and Patrick Patterson isn't lacking for talent either. The key for State: the play of Dee Bost and Barry Stewart on the perimeter. If they struggle to contain the Kentucky freshmen it will be a long night at The Hump. As for Kentucky, they'll need a consistent night from Cousins in front of a raucous crowd. He didn't play at the same level against Tennessee that he had in prior games, and while a tantalizing talent he's also shown the ability to drift in and out of games. The presence of a top-level talent like Varnado should have the freshman from Birmingham ready to go.
The ACC and Big East will also feature important games with NCAA implications on Tuesday night. Wake Forest, who looks to be a safe bet right now, visits a Virginia Tech squad in needs to wins to make up for one of the worst non-conference strength of schedule rankings in the nation. Malcolm Delaney and Dorenzo Hudson take care of things for Seth Greenberg on the perimeter but the key against the Wake Forest frontcourt will be Jeff Allen. He's got to be ready to go from the start and avoid foul trouble if the Hokies are to defend their home court. And Cincinnati visits USF in a game that could be considered an "elimination game", especially for the Bulls. But this is the kind of game that turns due to the play of a star, especially one the caliber of Dominique Jones. Keep an eye on this one as it could feature one of the night's better finishes.
TV GAMES
7p ESPN Michigan State at Indiana
7p ESPN2 Wake Forest at Virginia Tech
7p ESPNU Cincinnati at USF
7p ESPN+/MASN/CST William & Mary at George Mason
9p ESPN Kentucky at Mississippi State
9p ESPNU Rutgers at DePaul
9p BTN Michigan at Iowa
9p Raycom North Carolina at Georgia Tech
OTHER GAMES
7p Drexel at VCU
7p Radford at Liberty
8p Texas Tech at Baylor
8p Cleveland St at Green Bay
8:05p Creighton at Northern Iowa
ONE PREDICTION
Virginia Tech over Wake Forest: The pick here is Virginia Tech due to their backcourt and a rowdy crowd at Cassell Coliseum. Delaney and Hudson have done a better job this season of taking care of the basketball than the Wake Forest guards although Ish Smith is one of the nation's fastest guards. The Hokies will need to neutralize Al-Farouq Aminu but they can get it done; Hokies by six.