Austin, Mississippi St. beats McNeese St.

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Posted 7:37AM on Saturday, March 16, 2002

DALLAS - Mario Austin withstood McNeese State's best shot. Then, Mississippi State's star forward started to give out a few of his own. Austin bulldozed through defenders for 14 straight points during a 7-minute first-half stretch to rally No. 3-seeded Mississippi State from an eight-point deficit to a 70-58 victory over No. 14 McNeese State in the first round of the Midwest Regional. He finished with 25 points and nine rebounds. McNeese State coach Tic Price tried stopping Austin with an assortment of defenders, including 7-foot-1, 210-pound center Raynell Brewer and 6-foot-11, 288-pound reserve Larry Jackson. It didn't matter. Austin controlled the paint with a number of layups, dunks and a few short jumpers. He did most of his work down low without Mississippi State's 6-foot-9 forward Michal Ignerski, who left the game with an injured right thumb about 9 minutes in. Ignerski sat on the bench the rest of the way with an ice pack wrapped around his thumb. In the game's early minutes, Mississippi State (27-7) struggled to recapture the momentum of its Southeastern Conference tournament championship run last weekend. McNeese State (21-9) matched the Bulldogs basket-for-basket early on, never flinching when the play got physical in the paint. The Cowboys seemed to relish the challenge, flying in for rebounds and knocking down jumpers over their taller and wider opponents. The Cowboys took a 12-6 lead just 7 minutes in on Damond Williams' thunderous dunk over Austin. On his way back down the court, Williams yelled and saluted the crowd. The lead swelled to 21-13 with just over 9 minutes left in the half after point guard Chauncey Bryant banked in a short jumper. But the Bulldogs worked their way back, and closed the first half with a 12-0 run to take a 31-25 halftime lead. McNeese State didn't provide much of challenge to the Bulldogs in the second half, falling behind by as many as 19 points. Mississippi State also got 20 points from Marckell Patterson. The Cowboys finished with their season-low in points, led by Williams' 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Fred Gentry added 11 points and nine rebounds. The loss ends an emotional run for Price, whose home burned down and father died within a 72-hour span three weeks ago. McNeese State (21-8) entered the game on a 14-game winning streak - the second-longest in the country - and picked up the Southland Conference regular-season and tournament championships along the way. Four of McNeese's starters were seniors, including Williams who followed Price from an earlier coaching stint at Memphis. Gentry, a senior forward from DeQuincy, La., ended his career with his 116th straight start for the Cowboys. Stansbury already knew the pitfalls of playing against an overwhelming underdog in the NCAA tournament. As an assistant at Austin Peay in 1987, Stansbury was part of a No. 14 seed upsetting third-seeded Illinois in the first round.