March 18, 2005

Box Score

By JENNA FRYER
AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Winsome Frazier is back at the top of his game just in time to help Mississippi State make up for last year's NCAA tournament disaster.

Frazier made six 3-pointers and scored 20 points Friday night to lead the Bulldogs to a 93-70 win over Stanford in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The ninth-seeded Bulldogs (23-10) advanced to play No. 1 Duke in Sunday's second round. Mississippi State will try to atone from last year's collapse when it had the highest seed in school history at No. 2 only to lose to Xavier in the second round.

Lawrence Roberts, the 2004 Southeastern Conference player of the year, led the Bulldogs with 23 points and 14 rebounds. But it was Frazier who provided the spark they needed to get past Stanford (18-13).

Expected to be as solid as they were a year ago, the Bulldogs hit a rocky stretch when Frazier went down with a broken foot on Jan. 8. They went 5-3 in his absence, and when he returned on Feb. 15, he wasn't quite the same.

Frazier did not score more than 13 points in his last eight games, and was held to just six in Mississippi State's loss to Florida in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament.

But he bounced back at the perfect time, opening the second half with consecutive 3-pointers to pad Mississippi State's lead. Frazier finished 7-of-9 from the floor, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range.

Shane Power added 14 points for Mississippi State.

Chris Hernandez led Stanford with 17 points. Rob Little and Matt Haryasz had 14 each and Fred Washington finished with 12.

The game opened as if it would be a battle of big men, with Little scoring Stanford's first eight points and Mississippi State pounding the ball inside to Roberts. But when Little went to the bench with two fouls midway through the period, the Cardinal had to push the ball out to the perimeter.

Haryasz and Hernandez used long jumpers and backdoor cuts to the basket to open up a 12-point lead.

But the Bulldogs began hitting from the outside - making four 3-pointers in the final 5:08, including three straight in a 17-4 run to close the half and take a 44-43 lead into the break.

Chris Hernandez reacts in the first half against Mississippi State. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Frazier came out firing at the start of the second half with back-to-back 3s for Mississippi State, including an off-balance fadeaway off of one foot that made it 50-44.

Stanford struggled with its long-range shots, missing the first five 3-pointers it attempted in the second half. It allowed the Bulldogs to open up their lead following a basket by Power that drew a foul. He missed the free throw, but Marcus Campbell tipped it in.

Campbell then blocked a Stanford shot at the other end, and Mississippi State pushed the ball up court for Dietric Slater's fastbreak basket that gave the Bulldogs a 63-53 lead with 11:21 to play.

The Bulldogs pulled away from there, handing Stanford yet another NCAA tournament disappointment.

The Cardinal hasn't made it past the second round of the tournament since the 2000-01 season, despite some very high seeds - including last year's early exit as the top seed.

The Cardinal then spent much of this year regrouping following the defection of coach Mike Montgomery and star swingman Josh Childress to the NBA. Then new coach Trent Johnson got Stanford off to a slow start - the Cardinal opened conference play 0-3.

Stanford rebounded to finish third in the Pac-10, despite losing leading scorer Dan Grunfeld to a knee injury on Feb. 12.