Nov. 23, 2005

Box Score
Postgame Press Conference Audio

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Dietric Slater's 13 points and a smothering zone defense led Mississippi State to a 53-38 win over Charlotte Wednesday.

The win was the third straight for the Bulldogs (3-0) to open the season and extended their 15-game winning streak over non-conference opponents on the road.

Mississippi State held Charlotte (1-3) to a school-record low in points in a game and field-goal percentage in a game at 21.7 percent. In the first half, the 49ers could score just nine points and show just 11.5 percent.

The 49ers lost their third consecutive game after starting the season with an 82-65 win over Coppin State.

Curtis Withers led Charlotte with 20 points and 14 rebounds.

Piotr Stelmach and Jamont Gordon each had 10 points for the Bulldogs.

Mississippi State built as much as a 15-point lead on three occasions, before Charlotte cut the deficit to eight, trailing 39-31 with 9:35 left in the game. The Bulldogs outscored Charlotte 14-7 to close the game.

Neither team played well in the first half.

Charlotte went more than 15 minutes between field goals and also missed its first 12 3-pointers. Charlotte's Marcus Bennett finally connected from long range with 2:05 left in the half.

Mississippi State struggled to capitalize. The Bulldogs hit only 9-of-26 shots, but did manage as much as a 15-point lead before its 21-9 halftime advantage.

NOTES AND QUOTES (Supplied by Charlotte 49ers Sports Information):

Curtis Withers posted his third double-double in four games with 20 points and 14 rebounds.

Senior Marcus Bennett made his 49er debut, hitting 2-of-3 three pointers for six points.

Charlotte set school records for fewest points in a game (38), in a half (9), low shooting pct. in game (.217) and in a half (.115).

Miss State vs. Charlotte Post game Press Conference Quotes (11-23-05)

Charlotte Coach Bobby Lutz: We we obviously struggled putting the ball in the basket, they did a good job with the zone which we anticipated seeing. We felt like we had some ways to attack it, but we weren't as successful as we would like to be. In the first half, it was a story of frustration in trying to get good shots and when we got them, we just couldn't make them. It's a vicious cycle: when you're not scoring you need some confidence to score, and you need to score to get confidence. We're going to hang together and continue to work hard in practice, and there are obviously better times ahead. We need it to be quicker rather than later. It's a tough time for our team right now.

Defensively in the first half we kept ourselves in the game by how we guarded. In the second half we didn't guard as well and they got their confidence up as we allowed them to play better, and they got confidence also because we weren't scoring. Their young players played with a lot more confidence in the second half.

Q: With the shooting, where do you draw the line between physical and mental?

Lutz: It's a combination of both. As I said, you have to have confidence to shoot, and you have to shoot to have confidence. In practice we make a bunch of those shots, we really do, and what we have to do is keeping working in practice to get some confidence and carry it over into a game situation. We made a few runs, then we relied on all 3's and that is not what we talked about. We said we wanted to drive, go inside, get fouled ... and we relied too much on the 3, and the good ones that we got we didn't make. It's definitely both physical and mental.

Q: Obviously I don't think you wanted to shoot 30 3-pointers and there were a lot in the second half ...

Lutz: Some of it was catch-up, but the flow of the game in the 2nd half, we shot a few very quick ones when we had made some runs, and we had it at 8 and E.J. (Drayton) stole it but then palmed it on the way to the lay-up. That was a key play. But you know in that stretch after that, we relied too much on the jump shot. Curt asserted himself in the 2nd half in particular, and that is what we need him to do against the zone. We have to continue to work on our zone offense so we don't rely on the 3. Some of that rests with me. I'll be honest with you, I've been coaching a long time ... Except for matchups and special types of zones, zones never bothered any team I've ever coached until this year. So, I have to make adjustments. We've worked on it the last week because it happened in Wyoming, but we have to just continue to get better. We didn't shoot a good percentage from the foul line either, and we want to continue to get to the foul line and make some more when we get there. Obviously 4 for 30 isn't very good. Atrocious shooting night.

Our kids fought, they played hard, our defense the first half really kept us in the game. Our ratio of offensive rebounds, we had some chances, didn't turn it over as much in the 2nd half, got some more attempts in the second half because of that. we have to have a more consistent effort for 40 minutes. You have to score the ball a little bit, can't score 38 and expect to win the game. ----------------------

Charlotte Guard Mitchell Baldwin: In practice we knock down those shots. We don't shoot that many 3's, but we knock them down. Curt's our first option, we like to go inside out. But it seemed like it was very frustrating that we couldn't score like we wanted to in the first half.

Mitch: Give credit to their zone, they played real well. We have to find the gaps better, look for those holes to drive and swing the ball better. It's something we have to improve but also give credit to them as well.

On knowing he needs some help and the rest of the team has to step up.

Charlotte Power Forward Curtis Withers: For me, it's a new role that I have to take on for my team. I try to bring it every day in practice to help people get better and carry that over to the game. We need to practice and make more shots.

Talking about the dry spell

Mitch: It seemed like for an extended period in the 1st half, when we had 9 points ... the ball just wouldn't go in the hole for a long time. I went through dry spells with teams before, but this one seemed pretty long. We were frustrated because we were getting good shots, they weren't fade away 3-pointers. It was guys who usually hit those from wide open positions, but we just have to get much better.

Mitch: For us, I think you would have to say it was mental because in practice we make those shots. Days off guys are in there shooting. Charlotte's always been a team that hits shots, but I know it's not physical because we put in the time and practice those shots. ---------------------------------------

Mississippi State Coach Rick Stansbury: Number one, I know everyone's disappointed the way we won this game, but trust me you've got a very good basketball team. Bobby will get that team playing right. I just told Ms. Rose you've got a bead on your league. You didn't shoot it very well, and we just got lucky. That happens. But I'm very proud of our team. It was our 3rd game in 5 games, we've basically got a whole new basketball team, no one that's played any minutes. And for them to go on the road, 3rd game in 5 days, and play with just a little bit of poise - just a little bit - I think we grew up a little bit tonight.

Stansbury: You had the same players that have made shots in the past. Withers has made shots. Goldwire has made shots. Drayton has made shots. They'll make shots. Shooting is part of the game. I tell my guys all the time, you're going to miss shots. The key was tonight, we knew going in we had to play zone. I'm not a zone guy. But it was a necessity for us. We've got some guys out, we've had to hide some weaknesses with players, some injuries, to put them in position to win. And our concern was that we knew you didn't shoot it very well the last 3 games. But could we keep you off the backboards? For us to come over here and out rebound you, that is a huge stat right there and a huge key for us tonight.

Stansbury: (On the zone giving Charlotte problems) I don't know what my guys are doing sometimes. So maybe that kept Charlotte confused. They didn't know sometimes. They just move around out there. We've got 2 point guards out hurt. Our starter hasn't practiced for two weeks. And just to put the zone in, it allowed us to hide him.

Talking about the Charlotte Run in the second half which was stopped by E.J. Drayton's palming call on the way to a lay-up.

Stansbury: I don't know if that one call was huge, but that time in the game was huge. We came back after you made that run and made a 3 point shot. That was huge for us as a young team. We knew you were going to make a run. We didn't know when or where, but we knew it was coming, and we needed to see how we could handle a crowd on the road for the first time. Our kids stepped up for the first time. It got to 8 and we scored a few times in a row to get it back up to a 12 point cushion. That was huge for us.