Jan. 11, 2005

Mississippi State Team Report | Tennessee Team Report

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Mississippi State is returning to the last place it lost a road game, and that was nearly two years ago.

The 11th-ranked Bulldogs look to run their NCAA-best road win streak to 17 games when they visit Tennessee on Wednesday.

Mississippi State (14-2, 2-0 SEC) earned its fourth road win of the season with an 87-76 victory at rival Mississippi on Saturday. Lawrence Roberts scored 23 points to lead the Bulldogs to their seventh straight win over the Rebels.

"Some of the seniors, our eyes get big going on the road," said Roberts, averaging 18.8 points and 11.5 rebounds. "It's a tremendous challenge - you're going to somebody else's home court and trying to pull out a win."

"You got to have that toughness and poise down the stretch," Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson said. "Overall (you need) the poise to execute and they are a determined team and that is why they have won so many road games."

The 16-game run is made more impressive since top-ranked Illinois' eight-game road streak is the second-best in the country. The Bulldogs believe their good habits from last season have contributed to the streak.

"It all starts with confidence," Mississippi State guard Gary Ervin said. "Look back at last year and the success we had on the road, we wanted to take that into this year."

The Bulldogs learned Monday that shooting guard Winsome Frazier will be lost for the season. Frazier, who broke a bone in his left ankle Saturday, is averaging 13.3 points and has made a team-high 36 3-pointers in 99 attempts (36.4 percent).

"You're talking about the second-leading scorer, our best 3-point shooter, best perimeter defender, quickest athlete and toughest guy on the team," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said. "We'll miss him but nobody's going to cancel the game for us."

Ervin helped Mississippi State extend its overall winning streak to eight games with 15 points and 10 assists on Saturday. The point guard has been steady over his last six games with 54 assists and 19 turnovers in that span.

Tennessee was routed in its SEC home opener by Vanderbilt 88-63 on Saturday. The Volunteers surrendered 18 3-pointers - a school record for the Commodores.

"The biggest thing is the way they are shooting the ball from the outside," Peterson said. "Watching the tape from the game, there were several times on defense that we were there, but they just made shots."

Leading scorer Scooter McFadgon, averaging 15.8 points, has been Tennessee's most consistent performer - reaching double figures in all 14 games. He could use some help from second-leading scorer C.J. Watson, who has made just 13-of-34 shots over his last four games.

Mississippi State beat Tennessee 82-60 in Starkville in last season's lone meeting. Roberts scored 20 points for the Bulldogs, who scored 35 points off 21 turnovers.