Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Following a day's rest after its convincing victory against Houston on Saturday, Mississippi State returns to action at 7 p.m. on Monday against Western Kentucky at Humphrey Coliseum in a game televised by CSS.
It will be the fifth meeting between the two schools, as the series is tied at 2-apiece. They last met on Nov. 29, 2003, in Bowling Green, with MSU staking an 81-75 win.
Monday will also mark the final non-conference game in the regular season for the Bulldogs (9-5), who are 7-2 on their home floor. On Saturday, they open SEC play on the road at Arkansas.
State, which rebounded nicely from its setback to San Diego in overtime last Tuesday, got a season-high 16 points from sophomore guard Phil Turner against the Cougars, followed by Ravern Johnson and Romero Osby with 14 and 13, points respectively. Dee Bost also dished out eight assists to give him 64 for the season, the third most in the SEC.
The Bulldogs also held the Cougars to just 27.6 percent shooting (21 of 76) from the floor and has yet to allow an opponent to shoot better than 45 percent.
In addition, MSU improved to 1-4 in televised contests this season, snapping a five-game losing streak dating back to last year's NCAA Tournament showdown against Memphis on CBS.
The Hilltoppers (9-4), a Sweet 16 participant a year ago, invade Starkville following their 79-47 rout of Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday. They are led in scoring by A.J. Slaughter's 16.2 clip, while former Itawamba Community College standout Sergio Kerusch is grabbing a team-high 6.9 boards.