STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) -- There's no crying in the
Mississippi-Mississippi State rivalry. Just ask Derrick Zimmerman.
In a brutally physical game where nearly every drive to the
basket was met with forceful resistance, the Bulldogs beat the Rebels (No. 21 ESPN/USA Today, No. 19 AP) 79-69 and Zimmerman took the hardest knock of all.
|  | | Derrick Zimmerman took a hard hit for Mississippi State, but he helped break the Bulldogs' four-game conference skid. |
"It's war. You have to come in ready to play with your
mouthpiece in and your helmet on," the sophomore guard said. "You
have to be tough and we were the tougher team."
Zimmerman took a nasty fall in the second half, when he was
undercut going to the basket by a teammate who was pushed
underneath him by an Ole Miss player.
"With the hard fouls and everything, you just have to accept it
and get back up and play," said Zimmerman, who slowly got up while
tempers flared between the teams.
Mississippi State beat Ole Miss (15-4, 3-3 Southeastern
Conference) for the fourth straight time and 16th in the last 18
meetings in Starkville.
There were 57 fouls called and Zimmerman was just one of many
players knocked to the floor, as the Bulldogs and Rebels showed
that their basketball games can be just as physical as their
football games.
"It wasn't anything pretty at both ends," Mississippi State
coach Rick Stansbury said.
"It was a pretty aggressive game," Mississippi's Justin Reed
said.
"I think because it's Ole Miss, we bring out a different level
of intensity," Rebels coach Rod Barnes said. "Every play
something was going on. And that's OK with us. That's the
rivalry."
It was an especially important win for the Bulldogs (11-6, 2-4),
who had lost four straight conference games and play four of their
next five on the road.
"Our backs were against the wall," said Antonio Jackson, who
scored 11 points.
Tang Hamilton led Mississippi State with 16 points, including
9-for-10 shooting from the free-throw line. The Bulldogs made 32 of
44 free throws and scored their last 12 points from the line.
Mississippi State reserve Guy Gardner scored 10 points, shooting
3-for-3 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the line.
Jason Harrison scored a season-high 17 to lead Ole Miss and was
involved in the post-whistle posturing that broke out after
Zimmerman's fall.
Zimmerman broke out ahead of the pack for what looked to be an
easy layup. But Mississippi's Emmanuel Wade gave a one-handed shove
to the back of Hamilton, who was trailing the play for the
Bulldogs, that resulted in Hamilton undercutting his teammate.
Zimmerman hit the floor hard on his side and his teammates
converged around the closest Rebel, who was Harrison.
Quickly, the rest of the Rebels moved in, but only words and
harsh stares were exchanged. Harrison and Marckell Patterson
received technical fouls.
"Thing kind of got out of hand for a minute," said Zimmerman,
who scored two points, had five rebounds and five assists.
At that point, Mississippi State was up by 17 with just under
eight minutes left and looked in control.
Ole Miss, though, responded with a 19-5 run that cut the
Bulldogs' lead to 67-64 with 1:43 left. That was as close as the
Rebels would get.
The Rebels shot less than 30 percent from the floor (19-for-64).
Reed scored 11 points and Rahim Lockhart had 10 point and 11
rebounds.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Mississippi Clubhouse
Mississippi State Clubhouse
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