Around The SEC West – 2/10/09

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Here are the top stories from out West on this Tuesday:

MSU:  Two random basketball notes from this notes blog — on the downside, Mississippi State still has not played a ranked team this season… and on the upside, they have nailed a whopping 48 three-pointers in their last four games.

MSU:  Looking for a re-cap of State’s hits on signing day?  Here you go.

UM:  How about a re-cap of what Ole Miss got right on national signing day?  Here you go.

LSU:  When the Tigers travel to Starkville tomorrow night for a huge SEC West showdown, former small forward Tasmin Mitchell will have to guard 6′7 Ravern Johnson who’s one of State’s best deep three-point threats.  “Yeah, I used to always have to chase guys around.  But I enjoy it.  Whatever I hav eto do to stop a guy, I’ll do it.”

LSU:  Mitchell was the SEC’s Player of the Week last week, averaging 21.5 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two-point-five steals per game against Georgia and Alabama.

LSU:  Trent Johnson has done a fantastic job of capitalizing on having a veteran team in a youthful conference.  Working 22 hours a day will do that for you.  “I get my good hour-and-a-half, two (hours of sleep), in.  It’s good.”

Ark:  At 1-7 in the conference, it’s safe to say the Razorbacks aren’t playing very well regardless of venue.  But the road has been particularly tough.  In fact, Arkansas hasn’t posted a .500 season on the road in league play since way back in 1995.

Ark:  Up next is a trip to Auburn tomorrow night… which will serve as a homecoming of sorts for Hog point guard Courtney Fortson who played at Jefferson Davis High School just 45 minutes from Auburn.  (You have to wonder how black athletes like playing at Jefferson Davis High.)

Ark:  John Pelphrey makes no bones about his team’s deficiencies.  “We believe that if we have a good attitude and play within the framework of team, player really heard, and can get some semblance of defense for a long period of time, we’ve got a chance to overachieve.  And if we overachieve, we can compete with anybody.”  That’s a lot of work just to have a chance to overachieve which would give them a shot to compete.  Kudos for being honest.

Ark:  Harry King of nwaonline.net writes that Pelphrey’s team should look to Bobby Petrino’s first team for inspiration heading down the stretch.

Bama:  Meant to post this last week, but somehow forgot to put it up — Alabama got final approval to expand Bryant-Denny Stadium.  So when the 2010 season opens, Alabama’s home stadium will be the fifth-largest on-campus stadium in the country behind Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State and Tennessee.

Bama:  Along with Missouri’s Mike Anderson, UAB’s Mike Davis continues to be mentioned as a candidate for the Alabama’s head coaching spot.

Bama:  Speaking to The Birmingham Tip-Off Club yesterday, interim coach Philip Pearson had to deal with some awkward silences.

Aub:  Gene Chizik is still searching for two more assistant coaches to add to his staff.  One will be a secondary coach.  The other… well, no one’s sure quite yet.