# 2009–10 Mississippi State Bulldogs basketball team

The 2009–10 Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Mississippi State University in the 2009–10 college basketball season. This was head coach Rick Stansbury's twelfth season at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs competed in the Southeastern Conference and played their home games at Humphrey Coliseum, nicknamed The Hump. They finished the season 24–12, 9–7 in SEC play. They advanced to the championship game where they were defeated by Kentucky in overtime. They were invited to the 2010 National Invitation Tournament where they advanced to the second round before being defeated by North Carolina.

## Previous season

The 2008–09 Bulldogs finished the season 23–13 (9–7 in SEC play). The Bulldogs won the 2009 SEC men's basketball tournament, allowing them to advance to the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Washington in the Round of 64.

## Before the season
### Departures

Four players from the 2008–09 team did not return for this season.
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Christopher Gay | 10 | Guard | 6'0" | 165 | Senior | Hattiesburg, MS | Graduated (Walk-on) |
| Jacquiese Holcombe | 1 | Forward | 6'6" | 205 | Junior | College Park, GA | Transferred to West Texas A&M |
| Brian Johnson | 44 | Forward | 6'9" | 245 | Senior | Laurinburg, NC | Graduated |
| Rod Bryant | 14 | Guard | 6'1" | 165 | Sophomore | Birmingham, AL | Left team (Walk-on) |

### Recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Wendell Lewis C | Selma, AL | Selma HS | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Apr 22, 2009 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| John Riek C | Khartoum, Sudan | IMG Academy | 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | May 15, 2009 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Renardo Sidney PF | Jackson, MS | Fairfax HS (Calif.) | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 255 lb (116 kg) | Apr 30, 2009 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Shaun Smith SG | Brooksville, MS | Noxubee County HS | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 23, 2008 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 19 Rivals: 21 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Mississippi State 2009 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. "2009 Mississippi State Basketball Commits". Scout.com. "ESPN". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2009 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Roster

Because the Bulldogs were one player above the scholarship limit, Jarvis Varnado gave his scholarship up so that no one on the team would have to leave, making him a walk-on. Renardo Sidney was suspended for the entire season over recruitment violations.

## Rankings

Ranking Movement Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | WK 17 | Wk 18 | Final |
| AP | 18 | RV | RV | -- | -- | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23 | RV | -- | -- | RV | RV | RV | -- | RV | |
| Coaches | 19 | RV | -- | -- | -- | RV | RV | -- | RV | RV | RV | RV | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |

## Schedule and results

Source
* All times are Central
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 10/31/2009 2:00pm | No. 18 | Oklahoma City | W 82–54 | | The Hump (2,938) Starkville, MS |
| 11/7/2009 2:00pm | No. 18 | Georgetown (KY) | W 90–70 | | The Hump (2,995) Starkville, MS |
| Regular Season ||||||
| 11/13/2009* 8:00pm | No. 18 | Rider | L 74–88 | 0–1 | The Hump (7,241) Starkville, MS |
| 11/19/2009* 7:00pm | | Southeastern Louisiana | W 82–67 | 1–1 | The Hump (4,544) Starkville, MS |
| 11/21/2009* 6:00pm | | Bethune-Cookman South Padre Island Invitational | W 67–51 | 2–1 | The Hump (3,721) Starkville, MS |
| 11/24/2009* 7:00pm | | Texas–Pan American South Padre Island Invitational | W 75–50 | 3–1 | The Hump (3,214) Starkville, MS |
| 11/27/2009* 5:00pm, FCS | | vs. Richmond South Padre Island Invitational | L 62–63 | 3–2 | South Padre Island Convention Centre (585) South Padre Island, TX |
| 11/28/2009* 4:30pm | | vs. Old Dominion South Padre Island Invitational | W 69–55 | 4–2 | South Padre Island Convention Centre (543) South Padre Island, TX |
| 12/5/2009* 1:00pm | | St. Bonaventure | W 105–53 | 5–2 | The Hump (3,344) Starkville, MS |
| 12/10/2009* 6:30pm, ESPN2 | | vs. DePaul SEC/Big East Challenge | W 76–45 | 6–2 | St. Pete Times Forum (9,353) Tampa, FL |
| 12/12/2009* 1:30pm, FSW | | vs. UCLA John R. Wooden Classic | W 72–54 | 7–2 | Honda Center (13,043) Anaheim, CA |
| 12/16/2009* 6:00pm, ESPN2 | | Wright State | W 80–69 | 8–2 | The Hump (4,721) Starkville, MS |
| 12/19/2009* 1:00pm, CCS | | at Houston | W 70–64 | 9–2 | Hofheinz Pavilion (3,422) Houston, TX |
| 12/22/2009* 7:00pm | | vs. Centenary | W 88–51 | 10–2 | Mississippi Coliseum (5,502) Jackson, MS |
| 12/28/2009* 7:00pm | | Mississippi Valley State | W 73–45 | 11–2 | The Hump (5,421) Starkville, MS |
| 12/31/2009* 6:00pm | | at San Diego | W 77–68 | 12–2 | Jenny Craig Pavilion (1,630) San Diego, CA |
| 1/4/2010* 8:00pm, CSS | | at Western Kentucky | L 52–55 | 12–3 | E. A. Diddle Arena (5,925) Bowling Green, KY |
| 1/9/2010 12:45pm, SEC Network | | at No. 14 Ole Miss | W 80–75 | 13–3 (1–0) | Tad Smith Coliseum (9,360) Oxford, MS |
| 1/14/2010 6:00pm, ESPNU | | Arkansas | W 82–80 | 14–3 (2–0) | The Hump (8,339) Starkville, MS |
| 1/16/2010 2:00pm, ESPN2 | | Georgia | W 72–69 | 15–3 (3–0) | The Hump (7,682) Starkville, MS |
| 1/23/2010 11:00am, CBS | No. 23 | at Alabama | L 57–62 | 15–4 (3–1) | Coleman Coliseum (12,336) Tuscaloosa, AL |
| 1/28/2010 8:00pm, ESPN2 | | at Arkansas | L 62–67 | 15–5 (3–2) | Bud Walton Arena (12,803) Fayetteville, AR |
| 1/30/2010 12:30pm, SEC Network | | LSU | W 67–51 | 16–5 (4–2) | The Hump (7,247) Starkville, MS |
| 2/3/2010 7:00pm, SEC Network | | at No. 18 Vanderbilt | L 72–75 | 16–6 (4–3) | Memorial Gymnasium (14,316) Nashville, TN |
| 2/6/2010 12:30pm, SEC Network | | at Florida | L 62–69 | 16–7 (4–4) | O'Connell Center (11,660) Gainesville, FL |
| 2/11/2010 8:00pm, ESPN2 | | Ole Miss | W 71–63 | 17–7 (5–4) | The Hump (9,401) Starkville, MS |
| 2/13/2010 6:00pm, FSN | | Auburn | W 85–75 | 18–7 (6–4) | The Hump (8,854) Starkville, MS |
| 2/16/2010 8:00pm, ESPN | | No. 2 Kentucky | L 81–75 | 18–8 (6–5) | The Hump (10,788) Starkville, MS |
| 2/20/2010 3:00pm, SEC Network | | at LSU | W 60–59 | 19–8 (7–5) | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (9,434) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 2/24/2010 8:00pm, CSS | | Alabama | W 74–66 | 20–8 (8–5) | The Hump (8,477) Starkville, MS |
| 2/27/2010 5:00pm, ESPN | | at South Carolina | W 76–63 | 21–8 (9–5) | Colonial Life Arena (13,834) Columbia, SC |
| 3/3/2010 7:00pm, SEC Network | | at Auburn | L 89–80 | 21–9 (9–6) | Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum (9,927) Auburn, AL |
| 3/6/2010 5:00pm, ESPN | | No. 16 Tennessee | L 75–59 | 21–10 (9–7) | The Hump (10,021) Starkville, MS |
| 2010 SEC men's basketball tournament ||||||
| 3/12/2010 6:30pm, SEC Network | | vs. Florida Quarterfinals | W 75–69 | 22–10 | Bridgestone Arena (NA) Nashville, TN |
| 3/13/2010 2:45pm, ABC | | vs. No. 20 Vanderbilt Semifinals | W 62–52 | 23–10 | Bridgestone Arena (NA) Nashville, TN |
| 3/14/2010 12:00pm, ABC | | vs. No. 2 Kentucky Final | L 75–74 $^{OT}$ | 23–11 | Bridgestone Arena (20,082) Nashville, TN |
| 2010 National Invitation Tournament ||||||
| 3/16/2010* 9:00pm, ESPNU | | Jackson State First round | W 81–67 | 24–11 | The Hump (4,433) Starkville, MS |
| 3/22/2010* 11:00am, ESPN | | North Carolina Second round | L 76–74 | 24–12 | The Hump (9,471) Starkville, MS |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||