By By Richard Dark/EMG staff writer
December 28, 2003
NEW ORLEANS It was a far cry from their first appearance last season in the Nokia Sugar Bowl Basketball Classic, but for the Mississippi State Bulldogs, the end result was still a win.
Albeit a much more lopsided one.
State rolled out to a 13-0 lead with plenty of swagger, holding the Tulane Green Wave scoreless for the first five minutes. The Bulldogs never looked back, routing the Wave 72-50, in front of yet another partisan Bulldog crowd.
Tulane turned the ball over 18 times, in large part to 15 steals by the theft-minded Bulldogs. MSU (10-0) turned that into a bundle of easy transition baskets to shoot out to the early lead. MSU also collected seven blocks.
MSU forward Lawrence Roberts continued to establish his dominant presence in Stansbury's offense, leading the State attack with 15 points and six rebounds.
Guard Timmy Bowers tossed in 14 points to go with five boards and three assists.
Garbage time was in full effect for the majority of the contest. The only smatterings of cheers from the crowd came whenever MSU scored in highlight style.
After the initial drought, the Bulldog defense held the Green Wave scoreless in separate stretches of three minutes on two occasions.
The first half ended with Tulane only scoring seven points over the final six minutes. The Green Wave finished the last seven minutes of the contest outscoring the Bulldogs 32-11, but they never threatened MSU's lead.
For the game, the Wave shot a dismal 29 percent from the field, compared to 44 by State. Quincy Davis was Tulane's bright spot with 13 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots in 24 minutes. Wayne Tinsley added 10.