Big College Basketball Week For Mississippi State Men
Mississippi State (12-4, 3-1) won two big basketball games this week as they downed Georgia and No. 24 Alabama.
The Bulldogs’ contest against Alabama was worth the price of admission. The entire first half was a back-and-forth battle with Alabama holding a slim four-point lead at intermission. The second half was much of the same, but in the final seven minutes the Bulldogs captured the lead in the hard fought game and led the rest of the way in securing the 78-76 win. The Bulldogs visit Florida on Wednesday of this week and then host the Ole Miss Rebels this Saturday at 3 p.m. The Bulldogs have an even tougher schedule coming up next week, as they will play at Kentucky and Texas Tech.
The Ole Miss men’s basketball team came up short in their bid to upset No. 4 Auburn, as the visiting Tigers smothering defense proved too much for the Rebels to overcome in an 80-71 loss in Oxford Saturday night. Ole Miss (9-7, 1-3) had a tough week losing to Texas A&M and to the Tigers. The Rebels were scheduled to host Missouri on Tuesday and visit Mississippi State on Saturday this week.
The Ole Miss Lady Rebels (15-2) won over Mississippi State (11-5) this past Sunday, 86-71. It was the Lady Rebels’ first win over MSU since 2014. The teams will meet again on February 13 in Starkville.
The Golden Eagles of Southern Miss (5-11, 1-3) fell twice to Louisiana Tech this week in C-USA play. The Eagles will travel to Middle Tennessee this Saturday before returning home to face North Texas next Thursday.
East Mississippi, Jones and Northeast Community Colleges are all listed in the Top 25 of the National JUCO basketball polls. East Mississippi is No 13 with Jones at No. 14 and Northeast at No. 24. In women’ s play No. 11 Jones is the only Mississippi team listed in the Top 25.
FOOTBALL TIDBITS
Former Alabama football player and Mississippi State head coach Sylvester Croom will be inducted into the 2022 class of the College Football Hall of Fame. Heidelberg’s Dennis Thomas, a former Alcorn football player who was the SWAC Player of the Year in 1973, will also be inducted while former Mississippi State player Billy “Spook” Murphy will be enshrined as a coach. Murphy was the longtime coach at Memphis State. The Hall of Fame is located in Atlanta.
The college football schedules are out for the 2022 football season. Ole Miss will host Troy in its season opener on September 3. Also on that date Mississippi State will host Memphis while USM will host Hugh Freeze and Liberty University.
The Rebels will host Central Arkansas, Tulsa, Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama and Mississippi State this season. Road games will be at Vandy, LSU, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs will host Bowling Green, East Tennessee, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Auburn and Georgia. Road games will be at Arizona, Kentucky, Alabama, LSU and Ole Miss. The Golden Eagles will host Liberty and Northwestern State while traveling to Miami and Tulane. The remainder of the USM schedule will be announced later by Conference-USA.