Box Score Box Score
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Jarvis Varnado scored 20 points to lead five players in double figures while adding nine rebounds and eight blocked shots as Mississippi State opened with a 23-9 run and defeated Southeastern Louisiana, 82-67, Thursday night at Humphrey Coliseum.
Ravern Johnson added 17 points and Barry Stewart 13 as Mississippi State (1-1) built a 41-29 lead at halftime. Dee Bost chipped in with 10 points for the Bulldogs while Phil Turner posted a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Southeastern (2-1), which was led by
Patrick Sullivan with 20 points, got as close as eight points twice in the second half – the last on a 3-pointer by
Gary Dixon with 9:38 remaining.
A putback by Sullivan closed the Southeastern deficit to 66-57 with 6:12 remaining, but Mississippi State answered with a 13-4 run that was capped by a Johnson tip-in for a 79-61 lead with 1:19 left.
Trent Hutchin added 14 points for Southeastern while Dixon and
Rodney Jones added eight. The Lions shot 36 percent (12-for-33) in the first half and 39 percent (26-for-66) for the game and were outrebounded, 47-30.
Southeastern will return to action on Tuesday when it returns home to face Ohio Valley Conference member Jacksonville State in a 7 p.m. contest at the University Center.
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (2-1)
Sullivan 9-21 2-2 20; Hutchin 5-14 0-0 14; Jones 3-4 0-0 8; Dixon 3-4 0-0 8; Forest 2-11 2-3 6; Marks 2-4 1-2 5; Fortenberry 2-7 0-0 4; Patterson 0-0 2-2 2; Ndoumba 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-66 7-9 67.
MISSISSIPPI STATE (1-1)
Varnado 6-8 8-10 20; Johnson 7-13 0-0 17; Stewart 4-11 4-4 13; Turner 3-12 2-2 10; Bost 3-5 2-5 10; Osby 2-5 0-0 5; Luczak 1-1 0-0 3; Benock 1-3 0-0 2; Lewis 1-3 0-0 2; Price 0-0 0-0 0; Parker 0-0 0-0 0; Bailey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-62 16-21 82.
Halftime – MSU 41, SLU 29. 3-point goals – SLU 8-20 (Hutchin 4-8; Jones 2-3; Dixon 2-3; Fortenberry 0-3; Forest 0-3), MSU 10-25 (Johnson 3-6; Turner 2-6; Bost 2-3; Luczak 1-1; Stewart 1-5; Osby 1-2; Benock 0-2). Fouled out - None. Rebounds – SLU 30 (Sullivan 7), MSU 47 (Turner 14). Assists – SLU 12 (Patterson 4), MSU 12 (Bost 4). Total fouls – SLU 19, MSU 9. Technical fouls - None. A – 4,544.
