Bulldogs knock off No. 5 Alabama

Posted 7:57AM on Sunday 10th February 2002 ( 23 years ago )

STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI - For the past week, Mississippi State couldn't shoot straight from 3-point range. Against No. 5 Alabama, the Bulldogs could barely miss. Mississippi State caught the Crimson Tide off guard by hitting 12 of 17 3-point shots in a 76-62 victory on Saturday. It was the Bulldogs' second win over a top-5 team. As most teams have done this season, Alabama (20-4, 8-2 Southeastern Conference) dropped into a zone defense against the Bulldogs, daring them to take long jumpers. The strategy has been foolproof lately. Mississippi State (18-6, 5-5) came into the game having shot just 10-of-52 from behind the arc in its last three games, including a 4-for-27 effort in a loss to Georgia on Wednesday. But when the Tide backed off, the Bulldogs burned them. ``Statistically, they haven't proven they can make (3s) like they did today,'' Alabama coach Mike Gottfried said. ``So you kind of go with the statistics there a little bit, and they certainly answered those.'' Timmy Bowers scored 24 points and Michael Gholar had 15, They hope that helps them get back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1996 - the year they reached the Final Four. ``I think it looks very good. They come in ranked five in the country and we just beat them,'' Bowers said. ``It says a lot for this team that we can go out and play with anybody in the country.'' Erwin Dudley scored 23 points, 17 in the first half, to lead the Crimson Tide, who had their six-game winning streak snapped. Despite all the progress Alabama has made as a road team this season, Humphrey Coliseum remains a mystery. The Tide has lost four straight in Starkville by an average of 20 points. Gholar's third 3-pointer of the second half put Mississippi State up 60-50 with 7:14 left and Alabama never challenged again. About seven minutes earlier, the game was tied and the Tide were on a 9-2 run when Derrick Zimmerman hit a 3-pointer that put the Bulldogs back in front, 46-43, and rejuvenated the crowd with 14:44 left. When Gholar sank a 3 six minutes later, the Bulldogs had rebuilt the seven-point lead they held at halftime. After the Georgia game, Bulldogs coach Jim Harrick said he didn't think Gholar and Zimmerman couldn't beat his team with 3-point shots. ``I took that as a challenge,'' Zimmerman said. Gholar, who matched his career high in points and was 3-for-5 from 3-point range, said he shot about 500 jumpers a day after practice since going scoreless against Georgia. Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury couldn't explain the Bulldogs' sudden outbreak of accuracy. ``We didn't even talk about shooting in practice. We just talked about what we had to do for us to win,'' he said. Bowers was 4-for-7 from 3-point range, including one in the final minute that capped a career day for the sophomore. Mississippi State led by as many as 10 in the first half despite playing most of the half without Mario Austin, the team's leading scorer and rebounder. Austin took a shot to the head fighting for a rebound in the opening minutes that left him bleeding and staggering. After getting stitched up, Austin returned with about 11 minutes left but quickly picked up a second foul. He spent the rest of the half as a sideline spectator, wearing a bag of ice like a hat. Still, the Bulldogs led 41-34 at halftime on the strength of 7-for-10 3-point shooting and 15 points from Bowers. Austin played almost the entire second half and finished with nine points. The Bulldogs opened the SEC season by beating then-No. 4 Kentucky in overtime, 74-69.

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