Cross Examination; LSU Tigers vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs
by actioncuse on Jan 25, 2012 6:25 PM CST
in Basketball
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PrintLSU Tigers at Mississippi St. Bulldogs, Jan 25, 2012 7:00 PM CST
Tonight at 7:00 CT the LSU Tigers 12-7 (2-3) travel to Starkville, MS to take on the 16th ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs 16-4 (3-2). It is the first of two meetings this season between the teams, and should be a little bit harder to predict what might happen.
Of course, the favorite is the Bulldogs, both because they have a superior record and are playing at home. But LSU has caused problems for the Bulldogs, and actually split the series last year despite that being only win for LSU from January 15th onward. In the other game of the series, LSU lost by only a point at home. It would seem reasonable to say that LSU played their best against Mississippi State, considering how lopsided some of the other series games ended up.
Renardo Sidney is expected to be the main piece of the offense again for Mississippi State, as he was responsible for 24 points last year, though it was a disappointing year for him with numerous on and off the court problems. Arnett Moultrie also should provide a scoring punch for the Bulldogs, as he leads the team in scoring as well as rebounding. Dee Bost is the senior point guard for the Bulldogs, and is always capable of going off for 30 points.
The last time I saw Mississippi State play was against Baylor in December. It was actually quite an impressive performance by MSU, though they ended up losing the semi-road game in Dallas. The game was close throughout but it seemed like fatigue was the reason they weren't able to keep up in the final minutes before they ultimately lost 54-52.
Another time I saw Mississippi State was also in a loss, but a much more embarrassing loss, as they were defeated by Akron in the second game of the season. It served as a "good loss" however, as the team seemed to play a lot more cohesively after that and rattled off 11 straight wins, including a win over West Virginia.
What to look for today: Expect another close game. LSU is a team that can match up size-wise to Mississippi State and perhaps cause some problems for them down low. The Tigers are one of the better rebounding teams in the SEC, though they were out-rebounded by UF. That, however, had more to do with UF shooting over 50%, thus cutting down a lot on the rebounds available in the game. LSU wasn't able to get a lot of offensive rebounds, and thus, a slightly negative outcome.
Vegas thinks differently about this game than it did against UF, as LSU is only a 9 point underdog today. It's quite interesting that despite both games being away, and the teams being only two spots off in the rankings, that it would result in a 5 point change over a few days. Perhaps pace is the reason, as the over/under is only 130, suggesting that they think it will end about 70-60 MSU.
If there's one thing that I would feel confident doing, it would be betting the under in this game. It seems like it will have the makings of a scrappy, rebound filled, perhaps foul filled game that will play out very slowly. I did say that I thought LSU would win a game on against a team they "shouldn't beat" and with the only other game against Kentucky I think it's a little more likely we would win this game.
Justin Hamilton has been playing really well, but there hasn't been a big shooting night to ever go along with his big games, except for the Mississippi blowout. I think, despite being underdogs, we will find LSU with a really good chance to make it two in a row against the Bulldogs tonight.
7:00 CT tip off. From LSU Sports Net:
Game time is 7 p.m. on the SEC Network (WBXH, Cable 16 in Baton Rouge, WKCE in Alexandria, KLAF in Lafayette, WUPL in New Orleans, KSHV in Shreveport).
The game can also be seen on ESPN3 for those not in the SEC states.
Click here to Watch ESPN
GEAUX TIGERS
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ESPN3 may not be blacked out. It’s not scheduled to be right now at all, so everyone might have it available today.
Required Quote
Starkville is an old Indian word for ‘trailer park’
- Skip Bertman, OG
Managing Editor/Chief Lackey-And The Valley Shook THE LSU Tigers Blog of the Week for 52,136 Weeks in a Row and Counting
try wafb
or any of the old JP/Raycom stations
Managing Editor/Chief Lackey-And The Valley Shook THE LSU Tigers Blog of the Week for 52,136 Weeks in a Row and Counting
if you're blacked out on ESPN3
just change your IP address via proxy
by Uncle Mo's Family Feedbag on Jan 25, 2012 7:57 PM CST up reply actions
Would that help if I don't have the right ISP?
It isn’t that I’m blacked out because of location, it’s cause my service provider isn’t right.
Sorry, no
It’s only a fix for location based blackouts, since the proxy has to go through your ISP first
by Uncle Mo's Family Feedbag on Jan 25, 2012 8:24 PM CST up reply actions
32-31 Moo at half
Hickey give away at the end led to a layup to give them the lead.
Turnovers are the problem, but the shooting % for LSU is really good on both offense and defense.
Eddie Ludwig
Is he anything more than a warm body? I get nervous when he touches the ball, which is usually just to pass to someone else.
He's had a couple of good games this year
IIRC he had 7 points against UF which is acceptable off the bench. He filled in well early when we were without JOB.
At times though, he isn’t much on offense.
Wow this went MSU's way real fast.
Gotta keep fighting. Seems to be a recurring pattern, getting behind right out of the gate at the half.
39-33 Moo
Offense starting to play pretty poorly and defense is getting spread out and picked apart.
HICKEY STOLE YOUR CHEESEBURGER SIDNEY!
Managing Editor/Chief Lackey-And The Valley Shook THE LSU Tigers Blog of the Week for 52,136 Weeks in a Row and Counting
65-57 3:27 left
Offensive rebounds have pretty much been the difference. A couple of unfortunate non-charge calls, but I won’t complain about that since I think they call too many charges anyway.
74-71 Moo 12.9 left
MSU winning basically due to free throw shooting now. Made their last 6 now.
Can LSU send it to OT?
tough loss
but i like this team. seems like they play hard, and there’s definitely some talent. Would love a shot to make some noise in the tourney and get some experience.
I always keep a supply of alcohol handy in case I see a snake, which I also keep handy.
Why do they get four fucking free throws
Did they call that a flagrant foul? This game has been incredibly irritating.
Don't Panic.
by 4.0 Point Stance on Jan 25, 2012 9:08 PM CST reply actions
I'm just catching up on the DVR
They lost this game because they couldn’t block out. It’s a minor miracle they were in it at the end to begin with.
Don't Panic.
by 4.0 Point Stance on Jan 25, 2012 9:10 PM CST up reply actions
Agreed
I didn’t realize watching how bad the edge for MSU really was. They nearly had the same offensive rebounds as we did total.
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SEC Baseball Standings
Final Standings
# - SEC Tournament Seeding
Team Name = Eliminated from SEC Tournament
| West | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
 |
19 | 11 | 42 | 14 |
|
16 | 14 | 39 | 17 |
| 7 Mississippi St. Bulldogs |
16 | 14 | 34 | 21 |
|
14 | 16 | 34 | 22 |
|
13 | 17 | 30 | 26 |
| |
9 | 21 | 21 | 34 |
| East | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
18 | 11 | 39 | 15 |
| 4 Kentucky Wildcats |
18 | 12 | 41 | 15 |
| 3 Florida Gators |
18 | 12 | 40 | 16 |
| 5 Vanderbilt Commodores |
16 | 14 | 29 | 25 |
|
14 | 15 | 31 | 24 |
|
8 | 22 | 24 | 31 |
