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DALLAS (AP) -- The low post was crowded early. Mario Austin
didn't waste much time clearing it out for himself.
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McNeese State came out of the gate ready to play and ready to challenge SEC Champion Mississippi State. But when it was all said and done, Rick Stansbury's kids responded big behind Mario Austin -- the 6-foot-10 forward who scored inside and out all night long.
The Bulldogs can thank the fantastic competition they faced all year in the SEC for preparing them to play like Champs in the Big Dance.
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Austin scored 14 straight points during a 7-minute first-half
stretch, rallying No. 3-seeded Mississippi State from an
eight-point deficit to a 70-58 victory over 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 6-11, 288-pound reserve Larry Jackson.
It didn't matter.
Austin controlled the paint with a series of layups, dunks and a
few short jumpers. He did most of his work down low without
Mississippi State's 6-9 forward Michal Ignerski, who left the game
with an injured right thumb midway through the first half.
"The biggest problem about Austin was that he showed up for the
game," Price said. "I was hoping the bus driver would take him to
another facility."
Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said Ignerski jammed his
hand, but X-rays taken later didn't show a break. The forward is
questionable for Sunday's game against Texas, which beat Boston
College 70-57.
Austin was able to handle himself just fine without much
low-post help from his teammates.
"All I wanted to do was make their big men run," Austin said.
"I knew as long as I was running (my teammates) would find me
because their big men couldn't run with me."
In the game's early minutes, Mississippi State (27-7) struggled
to recapture the momentum of its Southeastern Conference tournament
championship run.
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.
|  | | Mario Austin scored 14 straight points over one seven-minutes span, and finished with 25 points and nine rebounds. |
"I think they were the more aggressive team the first 10
minutes. They took it to us," Mississippi State coach Rick
Stansbury said. "The thing that got us going is what got us going
all year -- our ability to defend."
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 a challenge in the second
half, falling behind by as many as 19 points.
Derrick Zimmerman, a 6-2 guard, punctuated the Mississippi State
run with a fierce dunk over Brewer. The bucket gave the Bulldogs a
60-45 lead with just over seven minutes remaining.
"I guess I surprised everyone," Zimmerman said. "They've got
the big kid in the lane, waiting for small guards to come. I guess
he didn't know this small kid could dunk."
Mississippi State also got 20 points from Marckell Patterson.
The Cowboys finished with a season-low in points, despite
Williams' 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Fred Gentry
added 11 points and nine rebounds.
The loss ends an emotional run for Price. His home burned down
and his father died within a 72-hour span three weeks ago.
McNeese State (21-8) entered the game on a 14-game winning
streak 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.
"We knew we had a long way to go," Gentry said. "We came out
with some energy. We just couldn't keep the energy."
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. | 
