NEW YORK -- A hyper-extended knee five minutes into the game didn't slow Mario Austin. Banging his head hard on the court while trying to grab a rebound a few minutes later didn't faze him, either.

"I was trying to make hustle plays,'' Austin said. "But it was rough at the start.''

	“	Wow, 28 points in his first game back. Can't get any better than that. He's a load. He works so hard off the ball, too. Guys who were guarding him kept telling me to get him away from the block, but then he caught the ball two feet from the basket and you can't do anything about that. ”
		— Xavier's David West on Mario Austin

Once Austin shook off the early bumps, the game was essentially over Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Not for Austin, but for No. 11 Xavier and anyone else who doubted Austin's impact or questioned No. 22 Mississippi State as a Final Four contender.

Austin was sensational in his first game of the season in leading the Bulldogs to a 71-61 victory. NBA scouts were amazed at how hard he ran the court, how strong and smooth his hands were in the post, his ability to hit the turnaround hook shot along the baseline and his mid-range game.

Austin's strength around the basket was impressive. So, too, was his intensity. Late in the game, Austin was still diving on the court for loose balls and coming up with them.

Austin didn't guard Xavier star David West one-on-one Saturday. But Austin was dominating and made his teammates better. West didn't. He had two points at the half. Austin had eight. Austin finished with 28 points, West with 13. Both are Wooden Award candidates. West gets plenty of national publicity. Austin gets virtually none.

That could and should change.

"This couldn't have gone any better,'' Austin said. "We went against a top team and a top player.''

"Wow, 28 points in his first game back,'' West said. "Can't get any better than that. He's a load. He works so hard off the ball, too. Guys who were guarding him kept telling me to get him away from the block, but then he caught the ball two feet from the basket and you can't do anything about that.''

"Obviously Mario Austin is back,'' Xavier coach Thad Matta said. "What a show he put on.''

Austin was held out of the Bulldogs' first six games while the school waited to hear an appeal on his eligibility. The NCAA re-opened his initial-eligibility case, questioning core classes in the ninth and 10th grades at Sumter County High in York, Ala., even though he's now a junior. Austin hired a lawyer, Donald Jackson, of Birmingham. There were threats of a lawsuit, an injunction or simply raising a big stink. They didn't need to go that far when the NCAA finally cleared him last week.

Austin heard the news in the coaches' offices.

"He danced all over the place for about five minutes,'' Mississippi State assistant coach Robert Kirby said. "He called his mom. He called everyone. And the next four or five days at practice he was all over the place.''

But he said he's not bitter about the process. He's not mad at anyone. "I'm just looking forward,'' Austin said.

The season started with a shocking home loss to Louisiana-Lafayette. The Bulldogs were lifeless without Austin at first. But once it looked like his saga would drag on, the team started to mesh, especially defensively, in a stretch of five games in two weeks.

Coach Rick Stansbury used Austin's absence to give more minutes to Michal Ignerski, Marcus Campbell and Branden Vincent. Austin continued to practice, but he isn't really back in game condition yet.

"Just wait until he is,'' Stansbury said.

Friday night, teammate and lead guard Timmy Bowers tried to calm Austin. He told him not to do too much and let the game come to him. But Austin was so jacked to play that he couldn't wait to get on the court.

"He was so anxious, so we knew we wouldn't get as much out of him the first five minutes,'' Kirby said. "Once he got through that, we knew he would play.''

Austin nearly declared for the NBA draft as a high school senior but reconsidered after getting word he wouldn't be selected in the first round. He flirted with the idea of going pro after his freshman season, then declared for the NBA draft last April after leading the Bulldogs to the SEC tournament championship as a sophomore. He even left school for three weeks, cleaning out his apartment.

But he returned to campus, got eligible and was ready for a bust-out junior season. Then when word came down from the NCAA, he was held out and suddenly his college career looked like it could be over. Now it's beginning again.

"He made one 3-pointer last season and he made one tonight,'' Stansbury said. "I'm going to put in plays for him to get 3-pointers now."

"He showed he's one of the best players in the country,'' Bowers said. "He's that good.''

And he's not even the whole story of this team. Mississippi State's defense shut Xavier down. West pointed out that the Bulldogs seemed to know the Musketeers' offense. They read the screens and snuck into passing lanes.

Bowers (18 points, two blocks and two steals) and Derrick Zimmerman, two of the more underrated guards in the country, harassed Xavier's guards and big men throughout the first half for a 33-15 lead at the break. Xavier's Romain Sato finished 2-for-10, 0-for-8 on 3-pointers.

The Musketeers were 5-for-24 on 3s, and it wasn't because they just missed shots. They struggled to get good looks against the Bulldogs' defense. This is the same 'D' that held Louisiana Tech to 38 points last week.

On offense, Mississippi State likes to get out on the break and score, using pressure defense to create turnovers and quick scoring opportunities. Saturday, the Bulldogs forced 14 turnovers and were credited with nine steals and six blocked shots. But the Bulldogs can also score in the halfcourt with Austin, Ontario Harper, Ignerski and Bowers.

"Their size bothered us,'' Matta said. "They were long at the guard spots. They were tipping passes and we weren't as sound with the ball as we need to be. They've got all the pieces of the puzzle here for a great team. We've got to get better quickly.''

Xavier was left to lament missing out on winning another top 25-type game. Xavier lost at Stanford in the Preseason NIT second round, which prevented the Musketeers from playing Florida in the semifinals in New York and possibly North Carolina in the final.

Xavier still has non-conference games against Creighton at home on Dec. 31 and at Alabama on Jan. 4. But the Muskateers will be hard-pressed to compete with the Tide, the way the Bulldogs should in the SEC West.

"We've got a chance,'' said Stansbury, whose Bulldogs play Oklahoma on Dec. 28 in New Orleans. "This was so important. Last year we snuck into the SEC tournament unranked. But our kids didn't get upset about it. We know this is a huge stage. We don't normally come up to New York and play in the Garden. People in the South know about us because we won the SEC championship. People down there understand how good we are.''

The rest of the nation should pick up on Austin and the Bulldogs now. This team is legit. They can defend. They can score. They can win big games. Beware.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.