Bulldogs get revenge on Rebels with win in Oxford

MSU and Ole Miss split the season series

Abdul Ado has seen his fair share of Mississippi State-Ole Miss battles. The MSU senior center knows all about the rivalry and what it means inside the Magnolia State.

So as the Bulldogs entered Saturday night's game against the Rebels just over a month since Ole Miss beat MSU in Starkville, Ado seemed to have one thing on his mind – payback.

"They came over (to Starkville) and punked us," Ado said. "We decided to come out here and make a statement that they did punk us at home, but that's not us. That's not what we stand for. So we had to come out here and do the same to them."

And that's exactly what MSU did. The Bulldogs went to Oxford and defeated the Rebels 66-56 at The Pavilion. MSU's defense paved the way for the win as the Bulldogs limited Ole Miss to just 38 percent shooting as a team.

"I thought we set the tone early in this game and we did a good job, defensively," Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland said. "There were some great individual efforts, too. D.J. (Stewart's) defensive matchup on (Ole Miss' Devontae) Shuler was phenomenal and D.J. deserves a lot of credit for that. He also got a lot of help from his teammates."

Shuler scored 22 points against MSU in Starkville. He had only four points on Saturday as Stewart and the Bulldogs locked him down. Ole Miss had only one player score in double figures as K.J. Buffen totaled 13.

Meanwhile, State shot 51 percent from the field. Three Bulldogs reached double figures, led by Iverson Molinar's 17 points. Stewart scored 16 while Tolu Smith added 12. Ado had nine points and seven rebounds.

The Bulldogs (12-11, 6-8) had control pretty much all night long. Ole Miss (12-9, 7-7) never had a lead. Ado had a dunk for MSU to put State up 2-0 just over a minute into the game and the Bulldogs remained in front the rest of the way, stretching their lead to as many as 15 points by late in the second half.

For Ole Miss, it was by any measure a deflating loss. The Rebels had been red hot of late coming in. They entered having won four in a row and were sitting with a solid chance at an at-large bid to this year's NCAA Tournament. Those chances took a major hit courtesy of MSU.

It was precisely what Ado and the Bulldogs hoped to do to the Rebels as a bit of payback for what happened in the Humphrey Coliseum a few weeks back.

"They don't like us, we don't like them, but you have to respect each other to play the game," Ado said. "We wanted this game. We needed to win this game. We had to come out here and show them hey, we deserve this win."

MSU will try to build on its victory this Wednesday. That's when the Bulldogs play host to South Carolina for a 6 p.m. central game.

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCES

CLICK HERE FOR MSU HEAD COACH BEN HOWLAND'S PRESS CONFERENCE

SEE VIDEO AT TOP OF THIS PAGE FOR MSU CENTER ABDUL ADO'S PRESS CONFERENCE

SEE BELOW FOR MSU GUARD IVERSON MOLINAR'S PRESS CONFERENCE

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