Mississippi

Inside the 5 plays that helped Mississippi State basketball hold off Georgia’s 2nd-half surge

Published

1 year ago

February 9, 2025

Inside the 5 plays that helped Mississippi State basketball hold off Georgia’s 2nd-half surge

Mississippi State basketball was leading by eight points to start the second half. Seven minutes later, Georgia tied the game with seven minutes to play.

Stegeman Coliseum was as loud as it had been all game.

Then with 6:33 to go in the game, MSU forward Cameron Matthews had the ball in the post and kicked it out to the top of the key for Claudell Harris Jr. Harris sank a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer as the shot clock expired, hushing the Georgia fans.

That was one of five times in the half when Georgia tied the game up, only for Mississippi State to answer on the next possession in the nail-biter of a 76-75 win on Saturday in Athens, Georgia. The win snapped a two-game losing skid seven days after Mississippi State (17-6, 5-5 SEC) suffered its worst home loss since 2013.

“It was quite the game,” MSU coach Chris Jans said. “We survived a lot.”

How Mississippi State kept punching Georgia back

It wasn’t one MSU player who kept scoring to hold off Georgia’s surges. In fact, there were different players in each instance.

“It meant a lot, but that’s nothing new,” Matthews said. “That’s the same thing we’ve been working with all year. We got about 9-10 guys deep. We work hard every day. We get after each other every day, so we already knew what we could do.”

First, starting center Michael Nwoko, who scored MSU’s first nine points of the game, muscled in for a layup at the 17:05 mark, ending Georgia’s 8-0 run out of halftime.

Thirty-six seconds later, after Georgia tied it at 42, RJ Melendez, the transfer from Georgia who was booed by fans all game, hit a free throw.

Georgia (16-6, 4-7) tied the score again at 45 with Silas Demary Jr.’s 3-pointer. Shawn Jones Jr. answered with a 3-pointer, kick-starting an 8-0 MSU run.

Mississippi State broke one last tie with 3:42 remaining after Georgia scored five points in one possession. Harris was whistled for a flagrant foul on Georgia freshman Asa Newell, who connected on both of his free throws. Then, Newell drilled a 3-pointer to knot the score at 71-71. But MSU forward KeShawn Murphy slithered around a backdoor screen set by Josh Hubbard for an easy layup.

Mississippi State led for 32 minutes, 20 seconds of game time.

Mississippi State overcame bad free-throw shooting

Mississippi State nearly lost the game because of how poorly it shot free throws. It made just 6-of-18 attempts (33.3%), evenly split at 3-for-9 in each half.

Matthews was fouled with 7.2 seconds remaining, putting him at the free-throw line in the single bonus with a 76-75 lead. He missed the first shot. Georgia raced down the floor with a chance to take the lead, but Demary turned it over when he dribbled the ball off his foot.

Harris was fouled with 1 second remaining, but he also missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw.

MSU got one last stop when Melendez swatted away a full-court inbounds pass.

“Certainly, the one thing we’re disappointed in more than anything is just the free throws,” Jans said. “We’ve been a much better free-throw shooting (team) than that. It really felt like, I told some of the coaches, this is how we used to win. Bad from the line, bad from the 3. We’d defend and scrap and get it down to a one-possession game and figure out a way to win it. It felt like that.

“We’re not saying that’s what we’re trying to go back to, but you got to win in any fashion or form. That’s all that matters is how you win.”

It was the first time since 2021 that MSU shot below 40% from the free-throw line (minimum 10 attempts) and won.

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

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Mississippi

Diamond Dawgs Set For Top 20 Showdown In Oxford – Mississippi State

Published

11 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Diamond Dawgs Set For Top 20 Showdown In Oxford – Mississippi State

OXFORD – No. 6 Mississippi State carries momentum and confidence into one of college baseball’s fiercest rivalries this weekend, traveling to face No. 18 Ole Miss in a three-game Southeastern Conference series at Swayze Field.

The Diamond Dawgs arrive in Oxford riding a five-game winning streak and carrying plenty of momentum into one of the league’s premier matchups. MSU sits at 21-4 overall and 4-2 in conference play, while the Rebels enter at 19-6 and 3-3 in the SEC.

Mississippi State has been one of the most complete teams in the country through the first half of the season. The Bulldogs are hitting .347 as a team with a .452 on-base percentage and 39 home runs, consistently putting pressure on opposing pitching staffs. Ole Miss counters with plenty of power of its own, already launching 46 homers while posting a .500 slugging percentage.

The engine for State’s offense has been graduate outfielder Bryce Chance, who leads the SEC with a .452 batting average and has struck out just three times all season. All-American infielder Ace Reese continues to anchor the middle of the lineup with a team-high seven home runs and 34 RBIs, while Noah Sullivan and Aidan Teel provide consistent production around them to give the Diamond Dawgs one of the deepest lineups in the league.

Mississippi State will lean on its weekend rotation that has begun to separate itself as a strength. Left-hander Charlie Foster is expected to get the ball in Friday’s opener. The Bulldogs will then turn to sophomore standout Tomas Valincius on Saturday. The southpaw has been dominant, going 5-0 with a 1.04 ERA and 47 strikeouts, highlighted by a 14-strikeout performance in his last outing. Right-hander Duke Stone is slated for Sunday and brings a 4-0 record with him into the series.

Ole Miss is expected to counter with left-hander Hunter Elliott in the opener, a veteran arm with a 3-0 record and 44 strikeouts, followed by right-hander Hudson Calhoun on Saturday. The Rebels have yet to announce a starter for the series finale. As a staff, Ole Miss owns a 3.56 ERA with 293 strikeouts, setting up a matchup between two pitching groups capable of missing bats at a high level.

While the Bulldogs have dominated at home — winning 19 straight games at Dudy Noble Field dating back to last season — this weekend presents another opportunity for State to prove itself away from Starkville. MSU is 1-3 in true road games this year but has shown the ability to compete against elite competition throughout the early part of the schedule.

The rivalry history leans in Mississippi State’s favor, with the Bulldogs holding a 268-213-5 advantage in the all-time series. State has also won two straight meetings between the programs, adding another layer of confidence heading into the weekend.

Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the baseball program. Fans can also follow the program on social media by searching ‘HailStateBB’ on X, Facebook and Instagram.Top of Form

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Mississippi

MS turkey hunter who thought hunt was ruined bags bird of a lifetime

Published

23 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

MS turkey hunter who thought hunt was ruined bags bird of a lifetime

‘I would call him a hybrid between a smoke phase and a red phase. He’s not a true smoke phase because of all the red in him.’

A Mississippi hunter bagged a rare, reddish-colored turkey after a frustrating start to his hunting season.
The turkey’s unique coloration is described as a hybrid between a smoke phase and a red phase.
According to a wildlife official, this genetic mutation is exceedingly rare, especially in male turkeys.

A Mississippi turkey hunter’s season wasn’t off to a good start, but with a change in plans, a little scouting, some luck thrown in, he bagged a rare reddish-colored turkey and it’s considered a bird of a lifetime.

“I’d been hunting the same bird since opening day,” said Barrett Clark of Strong, which is located near West Point. “He finally frustrated me enough to where I just needed to go look for another bird.”

Clark wasn’t able to connect with the gobbler he was after. So, on Friday, March 20, he decided to check another property. He located a few gobblers that afternoon, but one looked different. It appeared to have a lighter color than normal, but Clark figured it was just the way the sunlight was hitting the bird.

The following morning, Clark and his father, Larry Clark, returned to the area in hopes of getting a shot at one of the birds.

A turkey hunt that was almost ruined

“We met and went in early Saturday morning,” Clark said. “We were probably 300 yards away from him when he started gobbling. It was right at sunrise. He was gobbling off the roost.”

The gobbler flew off the roost and continued to gobble. Clark said he lightly called the bird. Then, a gunshot rang out from a nearby property and the gobbling stopped. To make matters worse, minutes later a coyote appeared and it looked like he was after the turkey that had been gobbling.

“That coyote came within 15 feet of my dad and ran straight to where the turkey had been gobbling,” Clark said. “We thought our hunt was boogered up.”

MS hunter shoots turkey with strange colors

The hunt wasn’t over, though. About 10 or 15 minutes later the gobbling resumed and Clark lightly called back. A little later, Clark saw a turkey through the trees in the neighborhood of 100 yards away.

“I was really just seeing his head move,” Clark said. “I would see his fan occasionally, but it was mostly just his head. I could tell he was lighter, but I really wasn’t focused on that. I was trying to stay still and make a good shot.”

Clark said he was hunting in pines that were maybe 10 years old, and the understory was thick. The bird came within 50 yards of him, but there was no shot. The bird began to walk away but stepped into an opening, and Clark pulled the trigger of his 20-gauge shotgun.

Clark still didn’t understand what he’d shot. He said it was only when he and his father got closer that they realized how unusual it was.

“We could tell it was something that neither of us had ever seen,” Clark said.

What is it, and how rare is this turkey?

The bird is a light rust or cinnamon color and lacks any normal coloration, but putting a label on it isn’t easy.

“I would call him a hybrid between a smoke phase and a red phase,” said Caleb Hinton, Wild Turkey Program coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. “He’s not a true smoke phase because of all the red in him.”

Hinton couldn’t put a number on it, but he said a genetic trait like this is very rare.

“Like all the genetic mutations, it’s exceedingly rare in the wild,” Hinton said.

And for a gobbler to express such a genetic trait is even more rare. Hinton said that upwards of 95% of the turkeys that express such traits will be hens, not gobblers.

“It’s just a once-in-a-lifetime trophy for the hunter,” Hinton said.

A lifelong outdoorsman and wildlife enthusiast, Brian Broom has been writing about hunting, fishing and Mississippi’s outdoors for the Clarion Ledger for more than 14 years. He can be reached at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.

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Mississippi

Portrait of former MS Speaker Philip Gunn added to House gallery

Published

1 day ago

March 25, 2026

Press Room

Portrait of former MS Speaker Philip Gunn added to House gallery

A portrait of former Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn was unveiled at the state Capitol.
Gunn was the first Republican Speaker in Mississippi in over 130 years, serving from 2012 to 2023.
The portrait, painted by Jason Bouldin, includes details like the new state flag, which Gunn championed.

Another portrait of a Mississippi Speaker of the House is set to grace the walls of the chamber.

More than 200 family members, legislators and Capitol staff came together March 25 to see the new portrait of former Speaker Philip Gunn. Gunn, who became the first Republican to occupy the position in more than 130 years when he was elected in 2012, served five terms in the body before opting not to seek re-election in 2023.

Gunn’s portrait is the sixth of the speaker series, and it was painted by Oxford-based artist Jason Bouldin, who also contributed the portrait of Gunn’s predecessor, former Speaker Billy McCoy. Bouldin and his father, Marshall Bouldin III, painted all six of the Speaker of the House portraits hanging in the Capitol.

“Painting contains an inherent challenge for us as the viewer,” Bouldin said at the portrait unveiling ceremony. “By its very nature, it lacks words. That doesn’t mean that paintings are necessarily silent.”

Bouldin brought viewers’ eyes to details in the painting, like the new Mississippi state flag, which Gunn led efforts to change in 2020, emblazoned in the corner. He placed Gunn on a simple, armless chair, he pointed out, the same chair that House junior pages use.

“I wanted this portrait to capture him as more of a person than as a speaker,” Bouldin said. “The goal for any portrait is not simply to look like somebody… That’s a relatively easy thing to do. It’s more important to get the feelings of a person.”

Gunn, he said, was surprised when Bouldin requested a day and a half to paint his portrait.

“I said, ‘My God, what are we going to do for a day and a half? Just take a picture and go paint,’” Gunn recounted at the ceremony. “But no, he wanted to get to know me and Lisa (Gunn’s wife). He wanted to find out what our values are and who I am as a person.”

Gunn thanked countless people in his speech, including his family, former colleagues in the House and Gov. Tate Reeves, who sat alongside him during the ceremony. He singled out the members of the Senate in attendance, emphasizing the importance of cooperation between the chambers to turn bills into laws.

He also touted what he considered the biggest successes of his tenure as speaker, including the change of the state flag and the legislation that led to the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

“Brighter days are ahead for Mississippi, but that bright future is not guaranteed,” he told the audience. “It took leadership for us to get here, and it’s going to take leadership for us to get there. I want to be a part of that.”

Bea Anhuci is the state government reporter for the Clarion Ledger. She has covered the Mississippi state legislature, and the people who make it run, since the start of the session. Email her at banhuci@usatodayco.com.

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