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Bulldogs Battle TCU In Big 12/SEC Challenge
STARKVILLE,
Miss. – A major conference foe travels to Starkville for the first time
this season as Mississippi State hosts TCU on Thursday night at
Humphrey Coliseum.
Tip-off is set for 6 p.m., and the game will
be televised on ESPNU. The matchup is part of the inaugural Big 12/SEC
Challenge, a series of 10 games to be played between members of the
opposing conferences. The Big 12 holds a 2-1 overall lead in the
challenge entering Thursday night’s action, with Alabama claiming the
only victory so far for the SEC.
The Bulldogs (5-1) added
another win to their ledger on Sunday as they edged Loyola 65-64 in
overtime. The dynamic duo of Craig Sword and Roquez Johnson combined
for 44 of MSU’s 65 points in the contest.
Sword was named the
Co-SEC Player of the Week on Monday, as he averaged 18 points in two
games against Jackson State and Loyola and scored what would prove to
be the game-winning points in both matchups. The sophomore from
Montgomery, Ala., paces coach Rick Ray’s squad with 12.7 points per
game.
Sophomore forward Gavin Ware averages just shy of a double-double with 11.7 points and 9.7 rebounds a night.
The
Horned Frogs enter the clash with a 4-3 record after dropping a 71-50
decision to Harvard in the finals of the Great Alaska Shootout on
Saturday night. Jarvis Ray paces TCU with a 13.4 scoring clip, while
Kyan Anderson averages 13.3 points and almost six assists per outing.
Thursday
will mark the third meeting on the hardwood between the schools, with
the series currently tied at 1-1. Mississippi State won the last
contest in 1990, a 64-60 win at The Hump.
After the pivotal
showdown with the visiting Horned Frogs, MSU will play a neutral site
game in Tupelo against Southeastern Louisiana on Friday, Dec. 13. The
tip at BancorpSouth Arena is set for 7 p.m.
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