Mississippi Tops SDSU in Holiday Final, 88-77

The Manhattan and Mississippi defenses are about as different as the Big Apple and Oxford, Miss.

One night after San Diego State rallied to defeat Manhattan by seven points, the Aztecs were beaten by Mississippi, 88-77, in the championship game of the Holiday Bowl Classic.

Playing in front of 2,454 fans in the San Diego Sports Arena, the Aztecs fought back from a 19-point second-half deficit to trail by seven late in the game. But the Rebels never trailed and were always in control.

SDSU was attempting to win its first Holiday Bowl tournament since beating Temple in 1981, but Mississippi (7-2) was too strong and too experienced for the young Aztecs (2-7).

While Manhattan played a soft zone defense and was outrebounded by the Aztecs Saturday night, Mississippi played a physical man-to-man defense from the outset.

Rebel guard Charles Prater did an excellent job on Arizona State guard Steve Beck Saturday and shut down Aztec freshman guard Tony Ross Sunday. Prater was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

Ross (17.9 scoring average) made his first start of the season after leading the team in scoring for three straight games and scoring a career-high 30 points on 9 three-pointers and 3 foul shots against Manhattan.

On Sunday, Prater--a 6-foot 4-inch junior college transfer from Northeast Oklahoma A&M--forced; Ross (6-foot 3-inches) to consistently put the ball on the floor and did not allow him to square up for his deadly jumper.

Ross, a much more effective shooter against a zone defense, was 1 for 7 from the field (1 for 5 in three-point attempts) and had three foul shots for only six points in the first half.

The Rebels jumped out to a 6-0 lead and were never headed. Mississippi led, 21-11, midway through the first half and 41-29 at halftime.

Despite being outshot 59% to 38% from the field in the first half and being outrebounded, 18-13, the Aztecs were still within striking distance at halftime.

But the Rebels took the ball inside early in the second half and quickly increased their lead to 53-35 with 15:21 to play. The Aztecs committed six team fouls within the first five minutes of the second half and hit the seven-foul limit with 13 1/2 minutes to play.

SDSU closed to 53-40 with 14:35 remaining, 69-59 with 7:09 left and 71-61 with 5:42 to play.

Darryl Gaines missed two free throws that would have cut the lead to eight, and Eric Smith hit two free throws to make it 73-61.

SDSU cut the lead to 81-72 on a basket by Rodney Hawkins with 2:15 to play. William Campbell hit two free throws to cut the lead to 81-74, but that was as close as the Aztecs got.

Mississippi was led by Prater with 21, Joe Ayers had 20 and Roderick Barnes 16.

Campbell, the only Aztec named to the all-tournament team, came off the bench to lead the Aztecs in scoring with 21, followed by Josh Lowery with 15.

Ross only scored two points in the second half to finish with eight. And that helps explain the Aztecs’ loss.

Notes

The Aztecs will host Northern Iowa in the San Diego Sports Arena tonight at 7:30. Coach Eldon Miller took over at Northern Iowa this season after coaching at Ohio State for 10 years. . . . In the consolation game Sunday, Arizona State (4-4) defeated Manhattan (3-8), 106-66. It was the largest margin of victory since the inception of the tournament in 1976. SDSU held the previous mark of 30 points, beating Fordham, 104-74, in 1977. Arizona State led, 49-29, at the half, shot 65% from the field for the game and had six players score in double figures. Tyrone Mitchell had 16; Tarre Isiah, Arthur Thomas, Steve Beck and Bobby Thompson had 14 each; and Uvonte Reed had 12. Bill Wheeler scored 15 to lead Manhattan.