Vanderbilt-Mississippi State Notes

The Vanderbilt Commodores travel to Starkville, Mississippi tonight to face the Bulldogs in another crucial SEC matchup. Inside are starting lineups, statical comparisons and a scouting report for Mississippi State.

Vanderbilt vs. Mississippi State

Site

Humphrey Coliseum (10,500)
Starkville, Miss.

Date/Time

FEB. 21, 2007 • 7 P.M. CT

Television

None

Radio

104.5 FM

Sirius Radio:

158

General School/ Team Information

.

Vanderbilt

Mississippi State

Head Coach

Kevin Stallings

Rick Stansbury

Conference

SEC East

SEC West

Record

18-8 (8-4 SEC)

15-10 (6-6 SEC)

Series Record

VU leads, 70-40

Projected Starters

Vanderbilt 3 - Alex Gordon, G, 5-11, 164, Jr., Pensacola, Fla. (7.9 ppg, 3.7 apg) 32 - Shan Foster, G/F, 6-6, 200, Jr., Kenner, La. (15.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg) 4 - Derrick Byars, G/F, 6-7, 230, Sr.-Tr., Memphis, Tenn. (16.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.2 apg) 20 - Dan Cage, G, 6-5, 215, Sr., Indianapolis, Ind. (11.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg) 41 - Ross Neltner, F, 6-9, 247, Jr.-Tr., Fort Thomas, Ky. (10.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.3 apg)

Mississippi State 44 - Jamont Gordon, G, 6-4, 225, So., Nashville, Tenn. (16.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 4.6 apg) 24 - Reginald Delk, G, 6-4, 175, So., Jackson, Tenn. (9.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg) 1 - Richard Delk, F, 6-4, 175, So., Jackson, Tenn. (6.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg) 22 - Dietric Slater, F, 6-3, 200, Sr., Wayneboro, Miss. (9.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg) 23 - Charles Rhodes, C, 6-8, 240, Jr., Jackson, Miss. (12.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.3 bpg)

Stats Comparison

.

Vanderbilt

Mississippi State

Scoring Offense

76.9

76.0

Scoring Defense

69.7

67.0

Scoring Margin

+7.3

+9.0

FG%

.466

.465

FG% Defense

.429

.392

3FG%

.378

.371

3FG% Defense

.327

.294

Free Throw %

.718

.664

Rebounding

34.1

38.8

Assists

17.1

14.2

Turnovers

12.8

14.3

Opponent Turnovers

5.8

13.5

Steals

7.5

6.2

Blocks

3.0

6.5

Scouting Mississippi State

Mississippi State (15-10, 6-6 SEC) has won four of its last five games heading into Wednesday’s contest. The Bulldogs edged LSU 56-50 in Baton Rouge on Saturday to pull into a three-way tied for first place in the SEC Western Division.

The Bulldogs ranks among the top teams in the league in several defensive categories against SEC competition. Mississippi State is tied for first in field goal percentage defense (.423) and is second in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.345), blocks (5.75) and rebounding (36.3). On the offensive end, the Bulldogs are third in the league in scoring (75.5) and scoring margin (+2.9).

Nashville native Jamont Gordon leads the team in scoring (16.1), rebounding (7.2), assists (4.6) and steals (1.2). Charles Rhodes is shooting a team-best 55.6 percent from the field on the season. Jarvis Varnado has a team-best 55 blocks.

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