WCC Basketball Fans

St. Mary’s (CA) 94, Mississippi State 72

It’s going to be a long, long year for teams from the Southeastern Conference’s West Division. Meanwhile, another riveting year of West Coast Conference action is ready to rock and roll.

The St. Mary’s Gaels handed the Mississippi State Bulldogs their fourth loss in five games, as the boys from Moraga, California, used tremendous outside shooting and rolled to a 94-72 victory at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Two teams who have reached the NCAA Tournament in recent seasons gathered on a neutral floor to grab one final taste of tournament-style ball before setting forth on the path of conference play. It was clear that SMC, not MSU, is ready to beat up on its backyard basketball brothers (with the exception of Gonzaga, of course).

Unlike the beleaguered Bulldogs, St Mary’s is rolling, having won five straight ballgames.  The dynamic Australian backcourt of Mickey McConnell and Matthew Dellavedova combined to pour in a total of 11 3-pointers. The long-bombing brilliance from a Down Under duo left the Vegas crowd in awe, and it put the young men of Mississippi into a state of definite despair.

The Gaels were simply too much for the Bulldogs.  St Mary’s shot the ball fantastically all night long.  The Gaels were better than 50 percent from the field, hit on 14 of 30 attempts from long distance, and were a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.  Two other Gaels, Rob Jones and Mitchell Young, were also able to score in double figures.

Mississippi State, suffering from two high-profile suspensions involving touted recruit Renardo Sidney and teammate Elgin Bailey, was simply in no position to compete on Wednesday night in Sin City. The Bulldogs were counting on Sidney to be a high-impact player, but after the mercurial youngster fought with Bailey during the team’s recent Christmas tournament in Honolulu, suspensions were unavoidable. As a result, the fabric of MSU’s roster was torn to shreds. A team lacking depth, chemistry and skill in the wake of the suspensions could not hope to compete with a group of Gaels that stormed to the Sweet Sixteen last season. Yes, Mississippi State received a tremendous performance from Ravern Johnson, who scored 26 points and added 5 rebounds.  Riley Benock and Kodi Augustus were also in double figures for the Bulldogs, but that collection of efforts wasn’t close to the balance and long-range marksmanship that St. Mary’s displayed.

It was simply a magnificent night for Mr. McConnell, who not only had a game-high in points, but dished out an incredible 13 assists as the Gaels rolled to nearly 100 points in regulation time.  Mississippi State probably wants to get out of the Western United States, where they have lost three of four outings on this Honolulu-Vegas swing. With MSU at 8-6 overall, it’s hard to see how the SEC West will put a single team into the NCAA Tournament this season. If MSU is one of the better teams in the West, this game shows just how bad that division of the SEC is going to be over the next two and a half months.

Yikes.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer