Bulldogs climbing back into the NCAA race

Last night's victory made four in a row for Mississippi State. I can't give a detailed review of the game for the simple reason that I did not see it. What I can do is heap praise on a few people. First up is Jamont Gordon who scored 15 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and dished 10 assists last night against Vanderbilt. In case you didn't know, we call that a triple-double. Gordon is only the second player in Miss. State history to get a triple-double, the first being Lawrence Roberts in 2004 against Nicholls State. You cannot say enough about Jamont Gordon's play since the Ole Miss loss. He has cut down on the turnovers while keeping his production at the same high level. He was good before when turnover-ridden, without them, I dare say he is playing great.

Charles Rhodes came up with a monster night, scoring 23 points and getting 8 rebounds. Once again, since about the Ole Miss loss, Rhodes has stepped up his game. Don't know what was wrong for much of the season, but apparently everything got worked out and just in time too. Dietric Slater had a good game as well after an absolutely atrocious performance against LSU which featured 7 turnovers. Slater scored 18 and grabbed 7 rebounds. Apparently he cannot have consecutive good games, so I would expect Saturday to be a disaster for him. Reginald Delk chipped in 13 points to the effort.

MSU needed a signature win and last night may have been it. They still have work to do if they are going to get into the tournament, though. It is looking like they need to win out in the last 3 games. Going 2-1 might still give them a chance depending on what they do in the SEC tournament. I don't think it is going to happen ultimately, but it is nice to be able to talk about it. Coach Stansbury should be given alot of credit for getting the team to where they are now. They could have folded after that heart breaker at Alabama, but Stansbury kept that from happening and has them playing really good basketball at the end of the year. Don't mean to be a buzz kill, but enjoy it folks because I have bad news for you. Once the season ends, there won't be another competent Mississippi State sports team to watch until basketball starts up again next year.