It’s a new week and a happy Monday if you’re a New Orleans Saints fan. Congrats to the Saints for the Super Bowl victory. If you live in the Iuka-Corinth area you are probably dealing with plenty of snow. Be careful on the roads.

Parrish Alford offers up a Basketball Rewind for the Bulldogs. I’ll skip ahead to the bottom line, but be sure to check the whole piece out. Here’s Parrish’s take – “With a weak RPI the Bulldogs need to start stringing together some wins. There’s no better place to start than at home where they’ve yet to lose an SEC game.”

Click here for the basketball rewind for the Bulldogs.

Final note, Brad continues to improve I hear and even Tweeted about watching the Super Bowl from he hospital.

Thanks for joining us,

Todd

Happy Super Bowl Sunday. Hope you enjoy the game. My heart says Saints, but my head says Colts. Either way I think it will be a good game with plenty of points. We’ll see.

The Lady Bulldogs lost a tough double overtime thriller in Gainesville, 80-78 to Florida. Click here for more on the game.

Click here for a look back at the men’s team’s 69-62 loss to Florida. 

Next up for Miss. State men’s hoops team is Ole Miss at 8 p.m. Thursday in Starkville on ESPN. The Bulldogs will be home for Auburn Saturday and the John Calipari and Kentucky the following Tuesday.

Todd

It is almost time to tip off in Gainseville. We’ll follow the game here. Join in and talk about the Bulldogs.

Renardo Sidney news from yesterday. With Brad on the DL will turn to some other coverage. Kyle Veazey reports in his blog for The Clarion-Ledger that MSU will accept the findings, Sidney’s attorney says. Click here for more on Sidney case.

Game Update

The Associated Press

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Vernon Macklin and Chandler Parsons each scored 20 points to lead Florida to a 69-62 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday.Florida (17-6, 6-3 Southeastern Conference) snapped a two-game losing streak in the series. The Gators’ last victory over the Bulldogs came Jan. 24, 2007.Mississippi State (16-7, 4-4) has lost four of its last five games.Ravern Johnson finished with 20 points and Jarvis Varnado added 16 points and 13 rebounds for Mississippi State.Florida had a 12-point lead with 2:38 to play, but struggled to close out the game.The Bulldogs scored seven unanswered points to cut the lead to 61-56. Johnson and Barry Stewart each hit 3-pointers in the final minute, cutting Florida’s lead to 66-62 with 22.4 seconds to play.Parsons and Erving Walker combined to hit three free throws to close out the final seconds.Florida had one of its worst shooting games of the season, making just 40.3 percent from the field. That included a 3-for-17 performance from the 3-point line. Walker and Kenny Boynton combined to go 1-for-13 from beyond the arc.Walker, Boynton and Alex Tyus combined to make just 7 of 35 shots from the field. Parsons and Macklin combined to go 15 for 22.Macklin scored Florida’s first 10 points of the second half, most of them coming in the post against Varnado, who is rapidly approaching the NCAA career record for blocked shots.Varnado had just one on Saturday — his fewest in any game this season — which leaves him 25 shy of former Louisiana-Monroe standout Wojciech Mydra’s mark of 535.Mississippi State struggled from the field as well. The Bulldogs shot 38.3 percent from the field and made just 8 of 23 from 3-point range. Stewart and Johnson combined to go 6-for-12.

Thanks for being with us,

Todd

Paul Jones offers a preview of today’s game. The Bulldogs (16-6 overall, 4-3 SEC) look to regain their shooting touch today when they visit Florida (16-6, 5-3). Tipoff is set for 12:30 p.m. on the SEC Network (WCBI).

Click here for a link to Paul’s story.

One of the best guys and hardest workers in the sports writing business Adam Gore provides the Know Your Foe. Check out Adam at Goresports.net for sports coverage all over NEMS. Click here to visit.

We’ll be back with a game blog later. Here is the Know Your Foe …

Know Your Foe: Florida Gators Adam Gore/GoreSports.net

The Florida Gators (16-6, 5-3) rebounded from their heartbreaking 61-60 loss to No. 14 Tennessee with a 66-65 win over Alabama (13-9, 3-5) on Thursday.

Florida led 64-60 with under two minutes left in the contest when Anthony Brock, former ICC Indian, completed a three-point play the old fashion way to pull the Tide within one-point before taking a 65-64 lead on a Mikhali Torrance jumper with 45 seconds left in the game. 

Kenny Boyton grabbed a rebound after a Erving Walker miss and took a quick timeout to save the possession for the Gators.  Walker made the best of his second opportunity by nailing a jumper to retake the lead 66-65 in the final seconds of the game. Bama missed a lay-up and committed a turnover on their final possession of the game allowing Florida to come away with the victory.

Walker scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half while Alex Tyus led the Gators with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Boyton finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds.

Tyus has scored in double figures in 12 straight games. Tyus led Florida in scoring with 23 points in an 87-71 win over Georgia and scored a team-high 18 points against Tennessee. 

Much like the Bulldogs, Walker has cooled down from his red-hot shooting performance from 3-point range hitting on 23 for his previous 37 from beyond the arc. He went just 1-for-6 against Tennessee but showed improvement going 2-for-4 against Bama.

The Bulldogs picked up a crucial 80-71 win over Florida last season to spark an strong close to the season. State went on a 7-0 run to close the first half with a 42-33 lead and would never lose that lead throughout the second half. Ravern Johnson scored 15 points, Jarvis Varnado had 13 and eight rebounds, and Barry Stewart added 12 points. Current Gators Alex Tyus had 16 points and Dan Werner chipped in 10 points for the Gators.

TV: SEC Network, 1:30 p.m. WCBI locally

Radio: MSU Network, XM Radio 200

Last time: MSU 80-71, March 4, 2009

Coaches: MSU: Rick Stansbury (247-134,12th season)

Notes: The Gators are 10-1 when center Vernon Macklin scores in double figures, the lone loss coming last week when Macklin was held to seven points vs. Tennessee… 6-10 sophomore center Kenny Kadji remains out indefinitely with a herniated disc in his lower back…

Varnadao Tracker: Varnado blocked 9 shots (509 career blocks) against Vandy pulling him 26 away from tying the career shot block record currently held by Wojciech Mydra (Louisiana-Monroe 98-02) with 535 career blocks… He also grabbed 14 rebounds to pass Wiley Peck (1976-79) as the third all-time rebounder in MSU history with 974 career rebounds… Rickey Brown (1977-80) is second with 1,092 boards with Bailey Howell (1957-59) leads the pack with 1,277 career rebounds.

Stewart Tracker: Stewart hit a pair of three-pointers in the Vandy game to have 244 career 3-pointers made, 14 behind Darryl Wilson’s (1994-96) mark of 258. He currently holds the record for most three’s attempted in a career with 676 attempts.

Probable Starters:

Mississippi State (16-6, 4-3 SEC)

G – Dee Bost – So. – 6-2 – 11.5 points, 4.6 rebs, 5.2 assist, 71.1% FT

G – Ravern Johnson – Jr. – 6-7 – 13.7 points, 3.5 rebs, 0.6 assist, 58.6% FT

G – Barry Stewart – Sr. – 6-3 – 11.3 points, 2.9 rebs, 2.2 assist, 67.3% FT

F – Kodi Augustus – Jr. – 6-8 – 9.2 points, 5.8 rebs, 0.8 assist, 78.3% FT

F – Jarvis Varnado, Sr. – 6-9 – 13.4 points, 11.2 rebs, 5.2 blocks, 63.4% FT Top Reserves:

G – Phil Turner – Jr. – 6-3 – 6.2 points, 4.9 rebs, 1.4 assist, 80.3% FT

F – Romero Osby – So. – 6-8 – 4.9 points, 3.0 rebs, 0.6 assist, 63.0% FT

G – Riley Benock – Jr. – 6-4 – 1.8 points, 0.8 rebs, 0.8 assist, none attempted

Probable Starters:

Florida (16-6, 5-3 SEC)

G – Erving Walker – So. – 5-8 – 13.2 points, 3.2 rebs, 5.2 assist, 81.3% FT

G – Kenny Boynton – Fr. – 6-2 – 14.5 points, 3.2 rebs, 3.1 assist, 74.6% FT

F – Alex Tyus – Jr. – 6-8 – 13.0 points, 6.9 rebs, 0.4 assist, 72.9% FT

F – Chandler Parsons – Jr. – 6-9 – 10.6 points, 6.5 rebs, 2.1 assist, 64.4% FT

C – Vernon Macklin – Jr. 6-10 – 9.6 points, 5.1 rebs, 0.9 blocks, 61.9% FT Top Reserves: F – Dan Werner – Sr. – 6-8 – 5.2 points, 4.3 rebs, 2.1 assist, 75.0% FT

G – Ray Shipman – So. – 6-5 – 2.6 points, 1.8 rebs, 0.4 assist, 52.9% FT

F – Erik Murphy – Fr. – 6-9 – 3.4 points, 2.6 rebs, 0.3 assist, 80.0% FT

Thanks for joining us,

Todd