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Varnado's triple-double leads Miss. State

Bulldogs block Kentucky, 69-64

Associated Press
Wednesday, January 16, 2008

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Each time Jarvis Varnado sent a Kentucky shot back from where it came, he could feel Mississippi State gaining strength Tuesday night.

Varnado finished with a triple-double that included 10 blocks in a 69-64 win over Kentucky that helped the Bulldogs to a 3-0 start in SEC play and their seventh straight win.

"I can feel my teammates get into it and the crowd get into it," Varnado said. "It gets us pumped up to go make a stop on the defensive end."

Mississippi State (12-5) came up with just enough stops to edge past Kentucky (7-8, 1-1) after the Wildcats cut the Bulldogs' lead to three late. The win gave Mississippi State two straight wins over Kentucky for just the second time.

"Any time you can beat a Kentucky team it's special," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said. "We have had to make some adjustments, but we are finding ways to win as a team."

The Bulldogs, who came into the game as the nation's leader in field goal percentage defense and No. 2 in blocks, are doing it with defense.

They built an 12-point lead over the Wildcats early in the second half, but had to hold on late after Kentucky held them without a field goal in the final 6:26.

Kentucky cut the lead to three twice in the final minutes, but Mississippi State made 13 of 18 free throws in the final 3:08 to seal it.

Jamont Gordon finished with 24 points and Varnado, the nation's leading shot blocker, finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds. It was just the third triple-double in school history and the first to include double-digit blocks. Varnado has had 10 or more blocks three times this season.

"He changes that game around the rim," Stansbury said. "That is for sure. Any time you earn a triple-double is impressive, and to do that with blocked shots is even more impressive."

Ramel Bradley finished with 22 points and Joey Crawford had 20 for Kentucky.

"Our margin for error is small," Kentucky coach Billie Gillespie said. "We have to have production from a lot of folks. As you get into conference play seniors end up having to shoulder most of the load. I think there is a bit of a maturity factor there."

© 2008, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

       4 Comments

Posted by anthony on January 16, 2008 at 2:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Maybe Mickey DeMoss should have stayed at Kentucky. The only thing they haven't tried is a woman???

Posted by jawbreaker on January 16, 2008 at 7:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Varnado could give the Vols trouble in the middle, as well as Ogilvy at Vandy.

Posted by CatScratchFever on January 16, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Varnardo has a great advantage in being able to play behind his man and arms that appear to be 6 feet long each. I think the key for any opponent will be to have some good interior passing...something tennessee and a few others are capable of.

Posted by creepykev on January 16, 2008 at 5:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

He will get his blocked shots on us but I think we can beat them anyway. I watched that game last night and when they played Ga that kid can really play.

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