Rick Stansbury

LEXINGTON - Because Rick Stansbury is a Kentucky native and grew up a Kentucky basketball fan, he knows what the feeling had to be in the Bluegrass when UK opened Southeastern Conference play with consecutive home losses to Vanderbilt and Alabama. "They lose those three in a row (including a game at Kansas) and everybody is ready move out of the state of Kentucky, particularly if you lose two home games," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said. "It's obvious to us other coaches that do not live in the state that Kentucky will be good, and they are good.

Before the season started, Barry Stewart said Mississippi State teammate Jarvis Varnado heard what some people were saying about him. "He caught wind that people were saying he's a good player, but that he had to step his offense up to be a great player. That seemed to really motivate him," said Stewart. Kentucky will find out how motivated the 6-9 junior is Tuesday when it hosts Mississippi State (14-7, 4-2) in a game that suddenly is a must-win for both teams. Both teams were unbeaten in Southeastern Conference play, but both now are on two-game losing skids.

LEXINGTON - If a team puts two, or even three, defenders on Kentucky sophomore center Patrick Patterson, that should leave one or two other players open. So why did Kentucky have so much trouble scoring against Mississippi State on Tuesday night when the Bulldogs did just that? "If they double Pat, we are playing four-on-three. But we did not catch the ball well enough and were not strong enough to get out of the double-team," Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie said. "Once you do get out of that double-team, you should shoot a layup or an easy shot.

Before the season started, Barry Stewart said Mississippi State teammate Jarvis Varnado heard what some people were saying about him. "He caught wind that people were saying he's a good player, but that he had to step his offense up to be a great player. That seemed to really motivate him," said Stewart. Kentucky will find out how motivated the 6-9 junior is today when it hosts Mississippi State (14-7, 4-2) in a game that suddenly is a must-win for both teams. Both teams were unbeaten in Southeastern Conference play, but both now are on two-game losing skids.

For a player who was not even supposed to play, junior Darius Miller certainly came up big for Kentucky. Miller had 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field, blocked two shots, made one steal and handed out one assist in UK’s 85-79 win over visiting Mississippi State Tuesday. Miller injured his groin in Saturday’s loss at Vanderbilt and did not practice Sunday or Monday and was listed a questionable for the game by UK coach John Calipari. He didn’t start, but he came in and played 33 minutes.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky native Rick Stansbury knows better than to underestimate what it will take to beat Kentucky in Rupp Arena. Even though the Wildcats have lost three home games this season, including Saturday's 78-77 decision to South Carolina, the Mississippi State coach knows his team will have a difficult task tonight. "Rupp Arena is always one of the most difficult places in the league, or country, to go play at," said Stansbury. "It's not just because of the crowd, but because they have a good team.

After Mississippi State beat Kentucky in Rupp Arena last week for the first time in his head coaching tenure, coach Rick Stansbury emphasized the obvious. "Any time you can keep this crowd neutralized a little bit, it really helps. For our guys to be able to keep their poise and keep the crowd out of the game is hard to do in this place," said Stansbury. Actually, it might not be quite as hard to do any more as what Stansbury, a Kentucky native and former Campbellsville College basketball player, remembers.

It was just one shot, but it's a shot that Mississippi State fans still remember well. Guard Jamont Gordon hit a 3-point shot at the end of regulation in the 2007 Southeastern Conference Tournament that helped beat Kentucky 84-82 in overtime. He'll get a chance to help beat the Wildcats again tonight when the teams meet in Starkville, Miss. "I think that win helped us a lot. It motivated us a lot and gave us hope. It let us believe that we could beat anybody. It helped us work harder in the offseason, and even in the NIT. We became closer and became a better team because of that win," said Gordon, a junior guard averaging 17.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game this year.

Being compared to Kentucky's Gerald Fitch not only is a compliment that Timmy Bowers likes, but he also thinks it is a fair comparison. "Gerald and myself have a lot of similarities," said Bowers, a Mississippi State senior. "We came into college not very well known. I've been like that my whole life and he probably has, too. We just are two guys who go out and get the job done and don't worry about the media pumping us up. We just get the job done any way that we have to. " Both senior guards will be trying to keep their team unbeaten in Southeastern Conference play tonight when the No. 5 Wildcats play at No. 20 Mississippi State.

Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury grew up a Kentucky basketball fan in Meade County and knows all about the UK basketball tradition. He's never been able to win a game in Rupp Arena since taking over as State's head coach nine years ago. However, he doesn't think playing Kentucky in Rupp Arena has quite the same mystique now for opposing players as it did years ago. "Twenty-three thousand people (in Rupp Arena) is one thing, but the biggest mystique is they have a good basketball team," said Stansbury.

LEXINGTON - For what he'’s asked to do, Josh Harrellson continues to excel for Kentucky. The senior center had nine points, went 4-for-8 from the field, pulled off six rebounds, blocked two shots, made a steal and got an assist in the Wildcats’ 85-79 win over Mississippi State here Tuesday. Often he was matched against Renardo Sidney, a bigger, stronger player many felt would be the Southeastern Conference’s dominant inside player going into the season. Sidney had 11 points, but he was only 5-for-13 from the field.

For a player who was not even supposed to play, junior Darius Miller certainly came up big for Kentucky. Miller had 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field, blocked two shots, made one steal and handed out one assist in UK’s 85-79 win over visiting Mississippi State Tuesday. Miller injured his groin in Saturday’s loss at Vanderbilt and did not practice Sunday or Monday and was listed a questionable for the game by UK coach John Calipari. He didn’t start, but he came in and played 33 minutes.

After Mississippi State beat Kentucky in Rupp Arena last week for the first time in his head coaching tenure, coach Rick Stansbury emphasized the obvious. "Any time you can keep this crowd neutralized a little bit, it really helps. For our guys to be able to keep their poise and keep the crowd out of the game is hard to do in this place," said Stansbury. Actually, it might not be quite as hard to do any more as what Stansbury, a Kentucky native and former Campbellsville College basketball player, remembers.

LEXINGTON - If a team puts two, or even three, defenders on Kentucky sophomore center Patrick Patterson, that should leave one or two other players open. So why did Kentucky have so much trouble scoring against Mississippi State on Tuesday night when the Bulldogs did just that? "If they double Pat, we are playing four-on-three. But we did not catch the ball well enough and were not strong enough to get out of the double-team," Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie said. "Once you do get out of that double-team, you should shoot a layup or an easy shot.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky native Rick Stansbury knows better than to underestimate what it will take to beat Kentucky in Rupp Arena. Even though the Wildcats have lost three home games this season, including Saturday's 78-77 decision to South Carolina, the Mississippi State coach knows his team will have a difficult task tonight. "Rupp Arena is always one of the most difficult places in the league, or country, to go play at," said Stansbury. "It's not just because of the crowd, but because they have a good team.

Before the season started, Barry Stewart said Mississippi State teammate Jarvis Varnado heard what some people were saying about him. "He caught wind that people were saying he's a good player, but that he had to step his offense up to be a great player. That seemed to really motivate him," said Stewart. Kentucky will find out how motivated the 6-9 junior is today when it hosts Mississippi State (14-7, 4-2) in a game that suddenly is a must-win for both teams. Both teams were unbeaten in Southeastern Conference play, but both now are on two-game losing skids.

Before the season started, Barry Stewart said Mississippi State teammate Jarvis Varnado heard what some people were saying about him. "He caught wind that people were saying he's a good player, but that he had to step his offense up to be a great player. That seemed to really motivate him," said Stewart. Kentucky will find out how motivated the 6-9 junior is Tuesday when it hosts Mississippi State (14-7, 4-2) in a game that suddenly is a must-win for both teams. Both teams were unbeaten in Southeastern Conference play, but both now are on two-game losing skids.

It was just one shot, but it's a shot that Mississippi State fans still remember well. Guard Jamont Gordon hit a 3-point shot at the end of regulation in the 2007 Southeastern Conference Tournament that helped beat Kentucky 84-82 in overtime. He'll get a chance to help beat the Wildcats again tonight when the teams meet in Starkville, Miss. "I think that win helped us a lot. It motivated us a lot and gave us hope. It let us believe that we could beat anybody. It helped us work harder in the offseason, and even in the NIT. We became closer and became a better team because of that win," said Gordon, a junior guard averaging 17.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game this year.

Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury grew up a Kentucky basketball fan in Meade County and knows all about the UK basketball tradition. He's never been able to win a game in Rupp Arena since taking over as State's head coach nine years ago. However, he doesn't think playing Kentucky in Rupp Arena has quite the same mystique now for opposing players as it did years ago. "Twenty-three thousand people (in Rupp Arena) is one thing, but the biggest mystique is they have a good basketball team," said Stansbury.

He was always around basketball because his father was a coach, but there was also a time Phil Cunningham thought he might be better suited to pursue a business career. That changed thanks to former Kentucky coach Eddie Sutton and his staff. Cunningham, now an assistant coach at Mississippi State, is the son of long-time Campbellsville University coach Lou Cunningham. He played on a 5th Region championship team at Taylor County and went to Kentucky Wesleyan in Owensboro to play for Wayne Chapman, the father of former UK star Rex Chapman.