Mississippi State Hoops Wins Exhibition Game

Junior Ravern Johnson’s 23 points sparked a convincing 82-54 win by the 18th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs against the visiting Oklahoma City Stars Saturday afternoon in the exhibition opener for both teams at Humphrey Coliseum.

Johnson drained 6-of-10 three-pointers, shot 8-of-15 from the floor and grabbed five rebounds.

Three other Bulldogs recorded double-digit efforts in the win, led by junior Kodi Augustus’ 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Sophomore Dee Bost joined senior Barry Stewart by scoring 11 points, while Bost added 6 assists.

All-SEC senior Jarvis Varnado grabbed 11 rebounds, notched 8 points and blocked 4 shots. Freshman Wendell Lewis continued his impressive preseason performance by claiming 8 rebounds in just 13 minutes.

OCU point guard Chris Brown led the game with 24 points on 9-of-23 shooting, while shooting guard Corey Bingham added 11 on a 4-of-13 effort.

The Bulldogs struggled with their opponents in the first half, but never trailed in the game. After scoring the first eight points, State saw two free-throws from OCU’s Brown spark a 10-0 run that pulled the game within a point. At the break, MSU led 38-33 after a hotly-contested first half.

Halftime refocused the Bulldogs, and they came out with a vengeance. After a quick three from OCU’s Bingham, State surged to a 35-8 run and ultimately outscored its opponent 44-21 in the second half.

Mississippi State dominated on both ends of the floor, shooting 46.3 percent from the field while holding the Stars to a 35.6 percent effort. MSU also hit 13 of its 30 treys while forcing OCU to shoot 25.0 percent from that range. The Bulldogs handed out 19 assists and registered 6 blocks.

Though losing the rebounding battle 22-18 at the half, MSU hit the glass in the second half and finished the game with a 47-32 rebounding advantage.

“We saw some things we haven’t worked on much,” MSU coach Rick Stansbury said. “We haven’t worked much against zones at this point. Their guys are small and spread you out. In the second half, we changed some things and did what we wanted to against the zone.”

Mississippi State wraps up its exhibition slate against Georgetown (Ky.) Saturday, Nov. 7. Tipoff at Humphrey Coliseum is set for 2 p.m., and admission is free.

Official Basketball Box Score—Game Totals—Final Statistics
Oklahoma City vs Mississippi State
10-31-09 2:00 p.m. at Starkville, Miss. (Humphrey Coliseum)
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VISITORS: Oklahoma City
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
20 Jerome Phillips….. f 2-8 1-2 0-0 0 5 5 1 5 1 2 1 1 34
23 Bryant Williams….. c 0-4 0-0 0-1 1 2 3 4 0 1 1 1 0 14
03 Chris Brown…...... g 9-23 0-1 6-8 2 4 6 3 24 0 2 0 0 36
05 Al Graham…........ g 3-6 0-2 0-0 1 3 4 1 6 2 1 0 0 34
12 Corey Bingham….... g 4-13 2-7 1-1 0 3 3 1 11 0 0 0 1 34
01 Cesar Cuevas…..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 6
04 Austin Ennis…..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
10 Doug McKnight….... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 1 2 0 0 11
31 Cory Nicholson…... 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 4 0 0 0 0 14
32 Alonzo James…..... 1-3 0-0 0-1 4 0 4 3 2 1 3 0 0 16
TEAM…............. 4 4
Totals…........... 22-62 3-12 7-11 8 24 32 18 54 7 12 2 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-33 39.4% 2nd Half: 9-29 31.0% Game: 35.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-6 0.0% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-9 77.8% 2nd Half: 0-2 0.0% Game: 63.6% 1
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HOME TEAM: Mississippi State
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
24 Kodi Augustus….... f 6-11 1-6 3-4 0 5 5 3 16 0 1 0 1 25
32 Jarvis Varnado…... c 3-6 0-0 2-4 2 9 11 1 8 2 3 4 0 27
02 Ravern Johnson…... g 8-15 6-10 1-1 1 4 5 1 23 2 3 0 0 34
03 Dee Bost…......... g 3-8 2-5 3-3 2 1 3 2 11 6 2 0 2 28
22 Barry Stewart….... g 3-8 3-7 2-2 1 4 5 3 11 2 1 0 0 31
05 Romero Osby…...... 4-8 1-2 0-0 3 2 5 2 9 3 2 1 0 21
10 Shaun Smith…...... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 4 0 0 0 14
12 Charles Parker…... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
20 Taylor Luczak….... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
21 Baxter Price…..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
30 Wendell Lewis….... 2-4 0-0 0-0 2 6 8 2 4 0 1 1 0 13
33 Brandon Bolen….... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
TEAM…............. 1 1 1
Totals…........... 29-63 13-30 11-14 12 35 47 17 82 19 14 6 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-29 44.8% 2nd Half: 16-34 47.1% Game: 46.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-15 40.0% 2nd Half: 7-15 46.7% Game: 43.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-9 66.7% 2nd Half: 5-5 100 % Game: 78.6% 1
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Officials: Tom Eades, Bruce Benedick, James Williams.
Technical fouls: Oklahoma City-None. Mississippi State-None.
Attendance: 2938
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Oklahoma City….............. 33 21 - 54
Mississippi State….......... 38 44 - 82
Points in the paint-OCU 24,MS 26. Points off turnovers-OCU 4,MS 9.
2nd chance points-OCU 6,MS 15. Fast break points-OCU 0,MS 2.
Bench points-OCU 8,MS 13. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-OCU 2nd-00:44, MS 2nd-01:04.
Largest lead-OCU None, MS by 31 2nd-05:01

32 – Jarvis Varnado
On working with the offense and thinking more.
“That’s what we got to start doing well because Coach Stansbury can’t feed us every time and I think we adjusted in the
second half.”
Difference between game this year and last year
“We are more experienced. We had a lot of young guys last year and this year we’re just more experienced and we know
the game more as well as each other.”
2 – Ravern Johnson, Junior Guard
On hitting 3 pointers
“Yeah I started out slow, but I knew eventually if I kept shooting they would fall. Most of our shots today were wide open
shots, and we we’re very fortunate to not rush any.”
On handling lofty expectations this season
“We know people will be coming for us, so all we can do is play our game. We want the target on us, so we can make a
name for ourselves this year.”
22 – Barry Stewart, Senior Guard
About getting back on the court
“It’s been a long off-season, and it feels good to put a body on someone else.”
On playing point at the end of the game
“I know coach has confi dence in me, he wanted me to get some experience at playing point and get some of the younger
guys used to running the offense.”
3 – Dee Bost, Sophomore Point Guard
On being in rhythm with other teammates
“Today was actually the fi rst time the starting fi ve has played together, so we were just trying to get a feel for each other
and learn how to play together.”
On how the big runs pile up during the game
“When our 3 ball is going in, the teams focus on Jarvis, and we play defense the way we’re suppose to it’s a matter of time
that we’re up 15 or 20.”

Rick Stansbury Opening Comments
““That was about what you think from a fi rst exhibition. Probably saw some things we haven’t worked on much. We
haven’t worked much against zones at this point. Their guys are small and spread you out. They do a little bit of screen
action and back cutting that is different than what we work against every day. In the fi rst half we did some things for a
reason. We stayed in some things just for us to work on. Second half we changed what we did against zones and did
what we wanted to against those zones. It all started with our defensive effort in the second half. First half we gave up 33
points. Second half we gave up 11 points in the fi rst 13 minutes in the second half and 21 for the whole second half. At
halftime we are getting out rebounded by two; second half we outrebounded them 19 in the second half. Those are huge
stats because they are effort stats. We jumped up and hit good, open shots against the zone in the second half.”
On Ravern Johnson
“Making baskets is a huge part of the game. When people talk about you, I want them to talk about you doing something
other than making shots. You have to fi nd a way to infl uence the game other than making three point shots. That is where
all my focus is with him. Barry Stewart infl uences the game even when he is not making shots. He fi nds ways to change
the game.”
On Barry Stewart’s Leadership
“I challenge him every day to step up and be that leader. I need to hear Ray and Kodi tell other people where to be instead
of other people always telling them where to be and where to go. Barry Stewart does those things. Being one of only two
seniors, it is important for us to have his leadership.”
On Wendell Lewis
“Wendell has been the biggest surprise of anybody. I don’t think Wendell played as well as he has been playing. He had
eight rebounds in 13 minutes. Wendell has been very impressive so far and keeps getting better and better.”
On Shaun Smith
“When these guys come in for the fi rst time the whole face of the game is different. Shaun has the ability to do a lot of
things. He can drive it to the basket which we are not great out. He also has some body strength and a feel for basketball.
Our only concern is his hip. We didn’t know if he would be able to play today.”

Kevin Morrissey Opening Comments
“I thought our guys played pretty well for the most part. There was that seven or eight minute stretch in the second half
where we just didn’t have an answer. I could’ve used every one of my timeouts and it wouldn’t have mattered. I think their
intensity level was certainly heightened in the second half. ”
On MSU’s three-point shooting
“They have so many guys that can shoot the ball well. We ran some zone in the fi rst half and that helped us get back into
it. But in the second half it didn’t matter whether we ran zone or man, they just shot the