Tulane University
Mississippi St
Men's Basketball Falls To Mississippi St.
Jan 17, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2001
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State jumped to an early 11-0 lead and Tulane University could not catch up as the Green Wave dropped its final non-league game of the year, 83-66, on Wednesday evening at Humphrey Coliseum.
Senior Ledaryl Billingsley (Chicago, Ill.) led Tulane with 21 points and seven rebounds, including the first eight points of the second half. Sophomore Brandon Spann (New Orleans, La.) scored 16 points, 12 of those in the second half. Freshman Wayne Tinsley (Fontana, Calif.) tallied 14 points, while sophomore Brandon Brown (Houma, La.) added double figures in rebounds with 12.
"I have to give Mississippi State credit," Tulane head cosch Shawn Finney said. "They really jumped on us in the first two or three minutes. We had to fight back, fight back. That's asking a lot of a young team. We came out much better in the second half. We have to stop doing that, especially on the road against a good home crowd."
Tulane cut the Bulldog advantage to 10 on a Spann three-pointer with 2:10 to go, but MSU held on down the stretch from the line, scoring all of nine of its points in the final three minutes from the line.
Tulane trailed 58-38 with 11:52 to go, but Tinsley scored four points to key a 10-2 run, cutting the deficit to 12 at 60-48 with 9:25 to go. MSU's Antonio Jackson stopped the run with a three-pointer from the top of the key, but Tulane continued to battle. A Spann jumper and a Billingsley hook shot made it 63-52 with 7:12 remaining. A Billingsley steal led to a pair of free throws for the big man as the deficit hit single-digits for the first time with 6:44 on the clock.
"When we had it to nine, we got a little antsy trying to make something happen," Finney said. "We need to let the game come to us. We are young and will get better with experience."
The teams traded free throws until the Bulldogs took advantage of a pair of Wave misses and big man Robert Jackson hit back-to-back hoops in the paint, making it 70-57 with 4:14 to go. Mississippi State proceeded to work the ball into the paint, using its superior size and depth to work the lead back to 17 with 2:47 to go.
The Wave opened the game with a scoring drought, going 5:27 without scoring as Mississippi State built an 11-0 lead. Tulane cracked the scoring column on a Brandon Brown hoop and Tinsley finished the opening half with eight points as the Wave trailed 43-25 at the break.
Tulane returns to Conference USA action on Saturday, hosting UAB at Fogelman Arena at 7 p.m. The Wave hosts John Calipari's Memphis program next Wednesday a the New Orleans Arena.
"UAB did a great job against is last time," Finney said. "They made some big shots and did a great job on the glass."
