State Headed to New York

For two hours last night, Mississippi State whipped FSU on both ends of the court. The scoreboard showed 86-71 in favor of MSU at the end, but the game really wasn't even that close, and thats a blowout. For the second game in a row, 5 or more Miss. State players scored in double figures. Against Bradley Gordon, Rhodes, Reginald Delk, Slater, and Stewart scored 20, 17, 15, 13, and 13 respectively. As an aside, I guess this would be a good time to apologize for not having a post on the Bradley game and the lack of posting in general. I went to Lexington for the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament and time just got away from me. It happens. This isn't my job after all. Anyway, moving along. Where were we? Right, right, double digit scorers.

Last night saw 6 Bulldogs reach double digits. Gordon, Rhodes, Slater, Hansbrough, Stewart, and Varnado scored 16, 14, 13, 12, 10, and 10. You have to like that 3 of them are freshman and 1 a sophomore. Makes you wish next year would hurry up and start already.

To be honest, this could have been so much worse for FSU. Their go to guy, Al Thornton was in foul trouble the whole game and only played 22 minutes because of it. That hurt them, but it was more than made up by the fact that Isaiah Swann had one of those nights and scored 31 points, going 9-13 behind the arc. He doesn't even average double digits on the season, it was just a fluke night for him. In addition, MSU was cold from three, going 7-30 (23.3%). Despite this, it was still a route.

Now Mississippi State will head to Madison Square Garden where they will play West Virginia in the semifinals. WVU's offense is different and difficult to defend. State can take them but it won't be easy.

Before we wrap this one up though, there is one thing I have to do. I probably shouldn't, but I'm going to anyway. After the game, I made my way over to a Florida St. message board I had been viewing over the last couple of days. I always like to get a perspective of the opponent from their own fans. It makes things more interesting. I had no intention of rubbing the loss in their faces and I didn't. Rubbing salt in the wound has never really been my thing. I'd rather observe. In any case, I'd like to share a couple of gems from that lovely board. Let the hilarity ensue.

Re: Mississippi State will make the dance next year! Reply
I doubt it, they are less talented then us by a fair amount.
Of course with Leonard Hamilton who cares.
Echefu, Douglas, Swann, and Rich's defensive efforts this game have been laughable.
Mississippi State is one of the worst offensive teams in the SEC and they are scoring at will on us. Shouldn't be surprised I suppose.

Hmm. Mississippi State averages 77.1 ppg on the year, and that is one of the worst in SEC? My goodness, I didn't realize there were 11 Loyola Marymount's in the league. Oh wait, there aren't. They are third in the SEC in scoring offense for all games, or second in league games only. Take your pick. Way to scout your opponent there big guy. May I suggest sticking to football, because you apparently know jack about basketball. Better luck next time though.

I hold a PhD in biomedical engineering...I'm fairly certain I have a bit more intellect than you.

Oh snap!!! I didn't realize that degree required you to know about the game of basketball. Nobody cares about your degree. It has no bearing in a basketball discussion. For all I know, you're just a guy with a PhD in biomedical engineering who doesn't even know what a 2-3 zone is.