Mississippi
What brought RJ Melendez to tears after Mississippi State basketball’s OT loss to Texas
STARKVILLE — RJ Melendez walked into the press conference room in Humphrey Coliseum with red, watery eyes. He took a seat next to Shawn Jones Jr. at the podium and covered his face with his shirt for a brief moment, fighting back tears.
Mississippi State basketball had just suffered an 87-82 overtime loss to Texas (17-13, 6-11 SEC) on Tuesday at Humphrey Coliseum. After charging out of a 12-point hole in the second half, the Bulldogs (20-10, 8-9) never held a lead in overtime, but were tied with 38 seconds remaining.
Melendez, when asked why he was so emotional, quickly pointed ahead to MSU’s regular season finale at Arkansas (18-12, 7-10) on Saturday (11 a.m., SEC Network).
“Arkansas,” he said. “We just got to go onto the next one. That game’s over. We just got ready for a tough road win, and then everybody loves March. It’s just a beautiful thing to be a part of and looking forward to it.”
Mississippi State was down by nine points with 3:52 remaining in regulation but closed the half on an 11-2 run. It forced overtime when Melendez, a senior forward who transferred from Georgia, stole an inbounds pass on a full-court press. His pass to Riley Kugel for an open layup tied the game with nine seconds remaining.
Melendez scored 15 points with eight rebounds, three assists, one block, and two steals.
“Our locker room was very somber to say the least,” MSU coach Chris Jans said. “We’ve obviously lost plenty of games this year, but I know that was a hard one to swallow for all of us.”
Mississippi State hasn’t been able to capture momentum in SEC play
On paper, this looked like the easiest stretch of Mississippi State’s SEC schedule. It was closing the regular season with three consecutive unranked opponents, the first time that’s happened since mid-December, so it could be the perfect crescendo into the SEC tournament and then the NCAA tournament.
“This is March, right?” Jans said. “That’s what everybody’s searching for.”
MSU took care of business with an 81-69 win against LSU on March 1 after a 38-point loss at Alabama but stumbled again against Texas.
It’s another instance where MSU hasn’t been able to string together wins in SEC play. It hasn’t lost three consecutive conference games but hasn’t won three in a row either. Each time it seems like the Bulldogs have turned a corner, like the back-to-back ranked wins against Ole Miss and Texas A&M two weeks ago, they lay a dud.
“I was hoping that we could win back-to-back games at home and have some momentum going into our last road meeting, which is obviously a very difficult place to play,” Jans said. “What these kids have shown me, this group in particular, is their mental toughness, their resilience, their belief in one another. I know they’re going to regroup and get ready for one last road trip before Nashville.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Inside the new Lego retailer, Bricks & Minifigs
Customers can buy or sell Legos and get individual bricks at the new store in Montrose.
Shoppers visiting Renaissance at Colony Park later this month will notice a big change.
Apple is moving to a new and larger store within the Ridgeland shopping center, while LEGO plans to take over Apple’s current location once the move is complete, according to Apple and other industry sources.
Apple has announced that its new store will open July 24 near the development’s Show Fountain. The company is not leaving Ridgeland. Instead, it is moving to a new location a short distance away inside Renaissance at Colony Park.
The company has operated a store at Renaissance for more than a decade. Once Apple moves into its new store, LEGO plans to open in the company’s former space. The addition will bring another well-known international brand to central Mississippi and give LEGO fans a dedicated store in the Jackson metro area.
It is another win for Ridgeland with last week’s announcement that a Dave & Buster’s that will be located at the PradoVista development near Topgolf. A site plan and architectural review for Dave & Buster’s was approved at the Ridgeland Board of Aldermen meeting on Tuesday, July 7.
Renaissance at Colony Park continues to thrive
Over the years, the center has attracted a mix of national retailers, restaurants and specialty stores. Previous developments at Renaissance have included luxury retailers, popular restaurant chains and entertainment options that draw shoppers from across Mississippi and neighboring states.
Apple’s new location will continue offering product sales, technical support and repair services. Customers will also be able to attend the company’s “Today at Apple” classes and workshops, which provide free lessons on photography, video, music and other topics.
Apple has not released details about the size of the new store. The Ridgeland project is one of several store moves announced this summer.
Renaissance keeps storefront
For Renaissance, the deal works in several ways.
Apple stays at the shopping center and receives a newer storefront. At the same time, the center fills Apple’s former location with another high-profile retailer instead of leaving the space vacant.
LEGO stores are often considered destination retailers because customers will drive long distances to visit them. Families, collectors and hobbyists frequently seek out official LEGO stores for exclusive products and special events.
For shoppers, the most immediate change will be Apple’s July 24 opening. Customers who need repairs, technical help or product purchases will be directed to the new store after the move.
LEGO has not yet announced an opening date.
Ross Reily is a writer for the Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter @GreenOkra1.
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Mississippi leaders across the board are reflecting on the legacy of service Sen. Lindsey Graham had in Washington, D.C.
3 On Your Side spoke on the phone with Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith who shared that Graham treated her like a little sister when she arrived to the Senate.
Their friendship grew outside of work, but one thing she’ll really cherish is the teamwork they developed to get things done with President Donald Trump.
“There were times he would come to me and say, OK sister, you’re going to have to break this news to Trump. If it was a difficult situation, he would say you got to soften him up, you call him and then I’ll call him after you but you’re the one that’s going to have to take care of this. Or you’ve got to go to Mar-a-Lago and handle this, but we were a pretty good team together because we were both close to the President,” said Sen. Hyde-Smith.
Sen. Hyde-Smith added, since coming to Washington, D.C., she looked up to Sen. Graham like an older brother in the chamber.
Want more WLBT news in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please click here to report it and include the headline of the story in your email.
Copyright 2026 WLBT. All rights reserved.
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State baseball signee Landon Brown will play for the Bulldogs instead of signing a pro contract, he told the Clarion Ledger on July 12 during the 2026 MLB Draft.
Brown, a right-handed pitcher from Rosharon, Texas, was ranked as the No. 77 prospect by MLB.com. He pitched and played corner infield for Iowa Colony while winning Brazoria County Player of the Year.
He won’t be eligible again for the MLB draft until 2029.
Brown is 6-foot-4, 210 pounds. He has a fastball that reaches 98 mph as part of a four-pitch mix. He also throws a slider, cutter and splitter.
Brown committed to Mississippi State in 2024 under previous coach Chris Lemonis.
He is the third high school draft prospect to reveal he will play for MSU instead of signing a pro contract. Shortstop Noah Danza withdrew from the MLB draft before it began, and pitcher Denton Lord announced after the fifth round that he was heading to Mississippi State.
Three Mississippi State signees were drafted in the first 10 rounds: shortstop Rocco Maniscalco, catcher Will Brick and outfielder Martin Shelar.
Landon Brown stats
- 66⅔ innings
- 0.63 ERA
- 110 strikeouts
- 13 walks
- .424 batting average
- 13 home runs
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
-
World3 minutes agoIran-backed terror proxy Houthis threaten fresh attacks after Yemen airport strike
-
Politics9 minutes agoHegseth announces joint task force with DOJ to prosecute leaks to journalists ‘with the full force of the law’
-
Health15 minutes agoMicrowaved squishy toy explodes onto boy’s face and chest amid viral trend, causing horrific burns
-
Sports21 minutes agoFBI, Atlanta police target unauthorized drones flying near World Cup venues
-
Technology27 minutes agoWhy careful people still end up on data broker sites
-
Business33 minutes agoNetflix to add videos from digital publishers to its homepage
-
Entertainment39 minutes agoTom Segura and Christina Pazsitzky split after 18 years of marriage
-
Lifestyle45 minutes agoLike ‘rotten flesh’? Thousands rush to whiff double corpse flower at Huntington
