Arnett Moultrie Double-doubles with 24 and 14 as Miss. State Wins 11th Straight

College Hoops Player of the Day for Thursday, December 22, 2011

On a night in which three starters - Dee Bost, Rodney Hood and Jalen Steele - were a combined 8-for-31 from the field, Mississippi's State's junior forward, Arnett Moultrie, put his team on his back and delivered one of his finest performances of the season.

Moultrie hit eight of 11 field goals, was 8-for-8 from the foul line for 24 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished four assists - each game highs - as the Bulldogs outlasted Northwestern State, 82-67, for their 11th straight win and an overall 12-1 record. Their only loss was to Arkon, 68-58, in their second game of the season.

At 6'11", Moultrie present a difficult match-up for most teams, but Moultrie really had his way against the undersized Demons. Thursday marked the 7th time this season he's recorded a double-double and he's only played in 10 of the Bulldogs' 13 games.

Mississippi State has been on the cusp of breaking out the past two seasons - going 17-14 last season, without Moultrie, and 24-12 in 2009-10 - though they're still awaiting an NCAA tournament bid. With their hot start and Moultrie on his game, the Bulldogs appear poised to challenge Kentucky, Florida and Vanderbilt in the SEC when conference play begins in January.

Next up for the Bulldogs will be their toughest test of the year, as they host unbeaten Baylor on December 28. The Bears are 11-0 and ranked #6 in the AP Poll. The game will be televised on ESPN, starting at 9:00 pm ET.

Arnett Moultrie Scores 28 as Bulldogs Roll; Coach K Ties Bobby Knight with Career Win 902

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, November 12, 2011

Mississippi State's Arnett Moultrie was nearly unstoppable in the paint - and in front of it - hitting 9 of 16 shots from the field and 9 of 10 free throw attempts as the Bulldogs improved to 2-1 with an 80-65 win over the South Alabama Jaguars.

Mississippi opened a 44-29 half time lead and just stayed even with the Jaguars for the double digit win.

Moultrie, a 6'11" junior who sat out all of last season after transferring from UTEP, where he played two seasons, also ripped down 13 boards, seven of them on the offensive end, and also nailed one of two 3-pointers.

NOTABLE: After slipping narrowly by upset-minded Belmont, 77-76, on Friday, the Duke Blue Devils got coach Mike Krzyzewski win number 902 as they trounced Presbyterian, 96-55, tying him with Bobby Knight for the most career wins by a head coach. Coach K can claim the all-time record when the Blue Devils face Michigan State Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Mike Krzyzewski is in his 37th year of coaching. He began his career at Army before taking the head coaching job at Duke in 1980. He has a combined record of 902–283 (.786).

Regular Season Opens; Dee Bost Leads Miss. St. to 76-66 Victory

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, November 7, 2011

College basketball's regular season officially began Monday, and Dee Bost picked up where he left off last season, leading the Bulldogs to an opening night win over Eastern Kentucky, 76-66, with 23 points, leading all scorers.

Bost hit on 7 of 15 shots from the floor, including 4-for-8 from 3-point range. The senior point guard with dazzling speed and quickness added six rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals, though he exhibited some of the same casualness with the ball that cost Mississippi State some games last season, turning the ball over five times.

The Bulldogs ended last season on a sour note, losing in the quarterfinals of the SEC to Vanderbilt, 87-81, ending their season without an invite to either the NCAA or NIT tournament.

Bost, who missed the front end of last season, returned to the team in January, but could only help the Bulldogs to a 9-8 record, exclusively against SEC opponents. He managed to lead the team in assists per game, averaging 6.2, but also committed an average of 3.5 turnovers per outing.

The game was part of the opening round of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer, which is being played at various venues across the country.

UTEP transfer Arnett Moultrie added 13 points and 10 boards for a double-double in his first game as a Bulldog, sitting out last season according to NCAA rules. Freshman Rodney Hood added 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting including a pair of 3-pointers.

Ravern Johnson Pours in 23 to Lift Bulldogs

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, December 13, 2010

There are a slew of teams trying to stamp their identities on the NCAA map, but maybe none more than the Mississippi State Bulldogs, who were denied an invitation to the NCAA tourney last season, despite a fine, 23-11 record and a one-point loss to Kentucky in the SEC tournament final.

Relegated to the NIT, the Bulldogs defeated Jackson State before falling in the second round to North Carolina. Returning to the team that the NCAA snubbed is Ravern Johnson, a 6'7" senior guard who is a match-up nightmare for most opponents and leads the team in scoring at 23.8 points per game.

Getting through the "easy" part of the schedule in decent fashion, the Bulldogs improved their record to 6-2 with a 67-58 victory over Nichols State, holding their big-time scorer, Anatoly Bose, to 4-for-11 shooting (1-for-8 from three-point range) and a sub-par 17 points.

Johnson led all scorers with 23 points, nearly his average, which is 9th best nationally. Johnson was 4-for-14 overall, including 5 of 9 three-pointers. Johnson and his Bulldogs are flying a bit under the radar right now, even though their two losses were by one and two points. Keep an eye on this SEC West squad which may be making some serious noise come March.

Mississippi St. vs. Joe Lunardi

College Hoops Player of the Day for Sunday, March 14, 2010

Let's go out on a little bit of a limb here and say that ESPN's Joe Lunardi (their bracketology expert) and the tournament selection committee is all wet if the Mississippi State Bulldogs don't catch a bid into the NCAA field.

Even though the Bulldogs lost a heartbreaker to Kentucky in the SEC final, losing in overtime by a 75-74 score, it was the second time this season they took the Wildcats into OT. They lost at home and now lose again here, but how can anyone deny that they are a quality team?

The very first player to receive Player of the Day honors this season will also be the last prior to the tournament. Jarvis Varnado kept the Bulldogs in the game with a superior effort of 18 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. The man is simply the best shot-blocker in the history of the NCAA, a fact proven by career stats.

Even though they ended their season on the short end of the scoreboard, the Bulldogs provided future opponents of Kentucky with a game plan. Spread them out, shorten the game, hit a bunch of treys and send the Wildcats to the line. It almost worked for the Bulldogs, and should have, except for DeMarcus Cousins' tip-in with 0:00.1 left on the clock, which sent the game into overtime.

Along with the Bulldogs, the Minnesota Golden Gophers, currently playing Ohio State for the Big Ten championship and an automatic bid, ought to get into the field. Again, Lunardi has had the Gophers on the outside looking in at various stages of development over the weekend.

If Lunardi is even partially right and one of these two teams doesn't get in, I will publicly heap profuse praise upon him in an upcoming post. If both Minnesota and Miss. St. make the field, I reserve the right to call Lunadri whatever names I choose, whenever I please. Childish? Yes, but, after all, we're only talking about basketball games.

Varnado Needs Support; Thomas, Henry Stand Out

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, November 13, 2009

It's a shame that Jarvis Varnado doesn't have much of a supporting cast at #18 Mississippi State, because h's got the kind of talent that can make an impact come tournament time. In their season opener, the Bulldogs relied too heavily on Varnado, their 6'9" senior forward, an came up short against little-known Rider College from New Jersey, losing, 88-74.

It wasn't for lack of effort from Varnado, who hit all 8 of his shots from the floor, knocked down 6 of 8 free throws, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked 7 shots. His 22 points led all scorers, but his teammates shot a losing 18-54 from the field, a 33.3% performance that isn't going to get the job done in the SEC or any other conference, for that matter. Keep an eye on Jarvis, though, as he'll likely be heading to the pros next season.

Notable: Sophomore Isaiah Thomas poured in 30 points for the #14 Huskies as Washington topped pesky Wright State, 74-69 to open their 2009-10 campaign. Thomas, no relation to the former Detroit Piston star by the same name (different spelling: Isiah), led the Huskies in scoring in 08-09 and is off to a smart start, hitting 7 of 14 from the field, including 2 of 7 from 3-point range and 14 of 18 freebies.

#1 Kansas wasted no time in establishing themselves as the team to beat in the Big 12, with a 101-65 thumping of tiny Hofstra. The Jayhawks showed off their top recruit, freshman guard Xavier Henry, who led the scoring parade with 27 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including 5-of-8 from outside the arc and 6-6 from the charity stripe. The sharpshooting guard did all his damage in a mere 24 minutes of floor time.

Mississippi St. Plays Its way In; Duke Takes ACC

Mississippi St. 64, Tennessee 61

Phil Turner hit a 3-pointer to put Mississippi State ahead late and then made two free throws with 8 seconds left to lift the Bulldogs over the Tennessee Volunteers in the SEC Championship game. Turner finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the biggest game of his career.

The Bulldogs are 23-12 and went 9-7 in the SEC regular season, and were considered by many to be a bubble team that would not make it into the NCAA tourney without winning the championship. Mississippi St. beat the best the conference could offer, knocking off Georgia, South Carolina, LSU and the Vols over the four-day span and should have been considered already in, whatever the outcome of today's game.

That said, the Bulldogs get the automatic bid and will likely become a 7 or 8 seed.


Duke 79, Florida State 69

Gerald Henderson's three pointer seven minutes into the game gave Duke the lead and the Blue Devils ran away and hid from the upset-minded Seminoles to capture the ACC tournament title. Duke took a 35-21 lead into the break and were never challenged after that.

Henderson finished with 27 points, second on the Duke scoring ladder behind Jon Scheyer's 29. Toney Douglas scored 28 for the Seminoles.

Both Florida State and Duke were already assured of making the NCAA field, though now Duke seems almost certain to be a #2 seed. Florida State is projected as a 3 or 4.

SEC: Tennessee Will Face Mississippi St. in Final

The conference most overlooked this season - at some points not even having a representative in the Top 25 - is the SEC, where LSU and Tennessee seemed most likely to reach the conference tournament finals, Mississippi State came out of the shadows and emerged as the giant-killer and potential Cinderella.

The Bulldogs swamped the Tigers in a 67-57 defensive battle, wherein nether team shot better than 33%.

In the other half of the draw, Tennessee easily handled Auburn, 94-83, as Wayne Chism scored 27 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to pace the Vols.

Tennessee faces Mississippi St. in the conference final Sunday afternoon.