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Mississippi State head coach Rick Stansbury directs his team during the second half of their NCAA college basketball game against Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Looking ahead: Four of MSU's next five games are at home, starting with LSU at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Bulldogs then travel to No. 17 Florida on Saturday for a 12:30 p.m. tipoff.
Who's hot: A lot of guys got hot versus Vandy, but junior forward Arnett Moultrie has been steady and efficient. He just needs to get more touches, which was a problem against Ole Miss, when he scored 10 points on eight shots. Versus Vandy, he had 21 points on 16 shots, plus 14 rebounds.
Who's not: Senior guard Brian Bryant returned to the starting lineup at Ole Miss but hasn't shot well the last two games. He's a combined 3 of 15 from the field and 3 of 6 from the free throw line, scoring nine total points.
RPI watch: State's RPI is 39th, according to RealTimeRPI.com. That's a strong position for this point in the season, and it should only improve if MSU can keep winning. Looking ahead, LSU's RPI is 71, while Florida's is 38.
Bottom line: Things looked to be unraveling after Ole Miss and a rough first half at Vanderbilt, but the Bulldogs put together perhaps their best half - plus overtime - of basketball all season. A lot of parts were clicking, both inside and outside, offensively and defensively.
Schedule
November
N7 Eastern Kentucky W, 76-66
N9 Akron L, 68-58
N12 South Alabama W, 80-65
N17 n-Texas Aamp&M W, 69-60
N18 n-Arizona W, 67-57
N21 Louisiana-Monroe W, 78-63
N25 UT Martin W, 76-50
N27 North Texas W, 82-59
December
D3 West Virginia W, 75-62
D10 Troy W, 106-68
D13 Florida Atlantic W, 75-68
D17 at Detroit W, 80-75
D22 1-Northwestern St. W, 82-67
D28 2-Baylor L, 54-52
D31 Utah State W, 66-64
January
J7 *at Arkansas L, 98-88
J12 *Tennessee W, 62-58
J14 *Alabama W, 56-52
J18 *at Ole Miss L, 65-68
J21 *at Vanderbilt W, 78-77
J25 *LSU [SEC Network] 7 p.m.
J28 *at Florida [SEC] 12:30 p.m.
February
F4 *Auburn [SEC] 3 p.m.
F9 *Ole Miss [ESPN/2] 6 p.m.
F11 *Georgia [SEC] 12:30 p.m.
F14 *at LSU [ESPNU] 8 p.m.
F18 *at Auburn [FSN] 7 p.m.
F21 *Kentucky [ESPN] 8 p.m.
F25 *at Alabama [ESPN/2] 5 p.m.
F29 *at South Carolina [SEC] 7 p.m.
March
M3 *Arkansas [FSN] 4 p.m.
n-Neutral court, 1-at Jackson 2-at Dallas