| Friday, February 1, 2019 |
| Mississippi State, C Spire partner to test state's first terabit network | |
 | C Spire and Mississippi State University have recently announced the successful testing of the state's first terabit-speed network connection. C Spire, working with Nokia and Canadian networking firm EXFO, tested the network in November in conjunction with MSU information technology staff using the C Spire data center on the university's campus. The test, which both entities announced last week, proves the capacity for the Mississippi Optical Network (MissiON) to provide networking speeds 1,000 times faster than 1 gigabit per second speeds currently on the market. In a press release, David Shaw, MSU's vice president of Research and Economic Development, said the network could play a crucial role in strengthening Mississippi's economic development and business expansion efforts. "Bolstering this network is critical in order to enhance our research institutions' capacity to continue competing successfully for science and technology grants and funding from federal agencies, business and industry, foundations and private endowments," Shaw said. |
| Karen Kimberl settles in at MSU-Meridian's Small Business Development Center | |
 | The small business development center at MSU-Meridian has a new counselor in charge. Karen Kimberl was hired in November 2018, but started the job earlier this month. She takes over for Dustin Odom, who left the position to complete his doctorate. The Mississippi State University Small Business Development Center in Starkville was established in 1981 to assist small business owners and entrepreneurs. William Hill, head of MSU-Meridian's Business Division, said having someone with connections to the community was one trait they were looking for. "We feel blessed to have her," Hill said. Kimberl, who has more than 25 years of business experience, says she can relate to people starting a business because she has been in their shoes. Her main goal, Kimberl said, is to let entrepreneurs know they aren't alone when it comes to starting their own companies. "I think I found my dream job because I enjoy helping people," she said. |
| MHP trooper faces manslaughter charge from Kaelin Kersh wreck | |
| A Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper has been indicted for culpable negligence manslaughter for the fatal 2017 crash that led to the death of Mississippi State University student-athlete Kaelin Kersh. Oktibbeha County grand jurors indicted officer Kyle Lee on Jan. 10 for his involvement in the wreck. Lee, according to the indictment, was driving a 2016 Ford Explore at speeds of up to 99 miles per hour on Highway 182, where the posted speed limit is 45 miles per hour. The crash happened shortly before 1:30 a.m. on May 7, 2017 at the intersection of Mayhew Road and Highway 182. Last year, state legislators passed and Gov. Phil Bryant signed into law the Kaelin Kersh act, which requires emergency responders to turn on flashing lights when going more than 30 miles per hour faster than the speed limit. |
| Junior Roundup kicks off livestock show at Dixie National Rodeo | |
 | The 54th Annual Dixie National Junior Roundup kicked off at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson on Thursday. Members of 4H and Future Farmers of America are showing off their prized livestock in over 10 categories. The ultimate goal, win the coveted title of Grand Champion which will be awarded February 7th. "There are two different types of competition. First is showmanship, where the judge is looking at how the young person presents the animal to the judge. The second is all about the animal itself," said Lurlinda Soignier, 4H Agent for Hinds County. Thursday was all about cattle. Hayes Thornton is one of the competitors. He says he loves showing his beloved cow, Doc Holiday, but like all relationships, they have their moments. "You have these days where either he's not doing good or you're not doing good," he said "and some days you're both doing good." The 4H and FFA isn't just about showing animals, it's about respect, animal care and it's big responsibility. |
| Tate Reeves leads early fundraising push for governor | |
 | Mississippi Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves has accumulated almost $7 million in his bid for governor later this year, far outpacing any other candidate for statewide office, newly-filed campaign finance reports show. The Republican formally announced his run in early January but has raised money for his gubernatorial run for several years. In 2018, he raised about $1.7 million, according to annual reports filed with the state Thursday. Reeves' most prominent challenger, Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood, who announced his run in October, raised more than $700,000 last year and now has more than $1 million ready to spend on his 2018 governor push. Both candidates claimed more than 85 percent of their contributions came from Mississippi. |
| In 2018 arms race for governor's seat, Tate Reeves outraised Jim Hood by $1 million | |
| In what's being handicapped as the most competitive Mississippi governor's race in at least 16 years, Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves raised $1.7 million in 2018, outraising Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood by $1 million. Reeves, the second-term lieutenant governor who is considered the Republican frontrunner for governor in 2019, raised $1.7 million between Jan. 1, 2018 and Dec. 31, 2018. However, Reeves spent the last few years raising $5.2 million, giving him $6.7 million to spend going into 2019. Hood, considered the Democratic frontrunner for governor, raised $716,000 in 2018, reporting just over $1 million cash on hand going into 2019. Reeves' $6.7 million on hand with 10 months before the election places him in good historical company. In 2003, when Republican lobbyist Haley Barbour defeated incumbent Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, Barbour raised $10.9 million and spent $11.3 million, not including expenditures from out-of-state groups that do not report contributions and expenditures. |
| Bill would make voting easier for Mississippi college students | |
| College students would have an easier time voting under legislation that unanimously passed an initial test in the Mississippi Senate on Thursday. Senate Bill 2806 would eliminate several burdensome requirements for college students who have moved away for school but want to vote absentee in their home districts. As it stands now, they must apply for an absentee ballot before each election by mail, and the application must be notarized. Then once they receive and complete the ballot, it also must be notarized before they mail it back. The bill's sponsor, Elections Committee Chairman Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, said the legislation would mirror the procedure for military members and other Mississippi residents who live overseas. Elections Vice-Chairman David Blount, D-Jackson, said his daughter, who attends Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., has struggled to vote absentee before -- especially in the recent U.S. Senate runoff race between Mike Espy and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. |
| Bill proposes $1,000 increase in Mississippi teacher pay | |
 | Mississippi legislators are making their opening bids on an increase in teacher pay, although there may be sweeter offers to come. The House Education Committee on Thursday passed House Bill 1349 , which proposes $500 increases in teacher salaries for each of the next two years, for a total of $1,000. That would boost the starting pay for a teacher with a bachelor's degree from $34,390 now to $35,390 beginning July 1, 2020. The bill is sponsored by Republican Rep. Charles Busby of Pascagoula. It would also boost the long-frozen salaries of assistant teachers from $12,500 to $13,500 over the same two-year period. Senate Bill 2770 proposes the same increases for teachers and assistants, but despite the apparent initial agreement between the chambers, it's unclear if that would be the last word on pay raises. |
| 'Mississippi School Safety Act' on the way to House floor, requires active shooter drills | |
| A bill lawmakers say is necessary to keep Mississippi children safe in school passed the first hurdle of the legislative process Thursday. House Bill 1283 would create the "Mississippi School Safety Act of 2019," something Gov. Phil Bryant urged the Legislature to pass in his State of the State address earlier this year. In addition to fire drills and emergency drills which already occur, schools would be required to conduct active shooter drills within the first two months of each semester. This legislation is another attempt by the Legislature to enact some measure of school safety -- last year, a bill that would have allowed teachers to carry guns in the classroom after specialized training died in the House. In 1997, a 16-year-old student shot and killed two people and wounded others at Pearl High School, something Rep. Mark Baker, R-Brandon reminded House members of as he presented the bill. |
| Bill introduced addressing Corinth schools ranking | |
 | The Corinth School District's problems over its accountability grades, including an "unofficial F" for the high school, have now entered the Mississippi Legislature. State Rep. Nick Bain, D-Corinth, has sponsored a bill to require the state Department of Education to "acknowledge student performance" in school districts, such as Corinth, that are classified as a District of Innovation. That bill passed the House Education Committee on Thursday and now goes before the full House. The Corinth School District has been met with numerous obstacles and denials as it tries to have its state accountability grades erased. The district as a whole was given an "unofficial C" grade while the high school was hit with an "unofficial F." The school district argues that it was not tested fairly. Bain's bill states that districts such as Corinth would be designated as a "DOI," which stands for District of Innovation. |
| Criminal justice reforms focus on drug courts, expungement | |
| Lawmakers in the House debuted a limited set proposed of criminal justice reforms that could reshape and expand the state's drug courts and make more people eligible to have criminal convictions removed from their records. The House Judiciary B committee heard details of H.B. 1352 on Wednesday by its author, Rep. Jason White, R-West. The bill is titled "The Criminal Justice Reform Act." Recently, legislative leaders and Republican Gov. Phil Bryant have pushed for another wave of criminal justice reforms this session following the passage of two bills, in 2014 and 2018, that aimed at cutting prison populations and costs, reducing sentences and eliminating the use of debtors' prisons. |
| Lawmakers to out-of-state visitors: Stop getting married in Mississippi | |
| It's too cheap to get married in Mississippi, a group of lawmakers agreed Thursday. At $20 per marriage license request, Mississippi has one of the lowest prices in the Southeast, said Senate Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Chairman John Polk, R-Hattiesburg. "We have a lot of circuit clerks who are being inundated with marriage license requests from out of state actually," Polk told his fellow lawmakers. "It's become a numbers game." According to a list compiled by news site Insider, Mississippi is one of the cheapest places in America to request a marriage license. A bill that would raise the cost in Mississippi from $20 to $35 is currently making its way through the statehouse. Polk described the bill at the Senate AET Committee meeting, and the committee passed it unanimously. The bill still faces several hurdles before becoming law, and a similar effort in 2017 failed. |
| Sen. Sally Doty, R-Brookhaven, files revenge porn bill again | |
 | A bill authored by Sen. Sally Doty that targets "sextortion" and "revenge porn" remains alive in the Senate. Doty, R-Brookhaven, is hopeful this is the year the measure makes it to the governor's desk. She has filed a similar bill before only to see it die. The measure would create penalties and liability for sharing intimate visual material of another person. "This bill provides a civil cause of action, injunctive relief or criminal penalties for sharing intimate pictures or video online without consent," Doty said when she filed the bill previously. Sextortion is defined as blackmail in which sexual information or images are used to extort sexual favors and/or money from the victim. The bill would allow a claimant who has won a lawsuit to be awarded damages, court costs and attorney's fees. |
| District 64 Rep. Bill Denny reveals plans to seek re-election | |
| Representative Bill Denny announced that he will be running for reelection in 2019. He will be seeking his ninth term in the Mississippi House of Representatives. During his service in the House, Representative Denny has overseen redistricting twice, once in 1990 and again in 2012. Redistricting occurs once every 10 years after the United State census. Representative Denny has always focused on keeping communities of interest intact and has gained approval of his redistricting maps from both Republican and Democrat led United States Justice Departments. Most recently, Representative Denny authored and passed a bill creating the Capitol Complex Improvement District. This district created an overlay in Jackson that will bring in additional funding for infrastructure in our capital city, as well as additional police patrols by Capitol Police to supplement the work of the Jackson Police Department. At full implementation, the capital city will see an additional $11 million a year from state funds supporting the infrastructure of the city. |
| Cyberattack fears on the rise after shutdown, intel testimony | |
 | Lawmakers fear that increased threats from foreign actors, combined with lingering effects from the government shutdown, are making the U.S. more susceptible to cyberattacks. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued its first-ever emergency directive during the record-long shutdown, requiring federal agencies to secure certain systems after researchers found Iranian actors were trying to penetrate U.S. government networks. And top intelligence officials this week warned that foreign adversaries are escalating their cyberattacks while seeking to obtain top secret data. When asked if another shutdown could serve as an open invitation for foreign hackers to go after federal systems, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) replied, "Absolutely." |
| Bennie Thompson Calls for Evasive Trump Official to Testify to Congress | |
| In a scathing letter, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., called on Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen to appear before the congressional Committee on Homeland Security. Thompson, the committee's chairman, first called on her to appear in a letter he sent on Jan. 4 -- the day after Democrats took control of Congress. In that letter, he asked her to testify on Feb. 6 about Trump's demands for a border wall and about the deaths of immigrant children in U.S. custody late last year, which he accused DHS of telling "outright lies" about. Nielsen, though, told the committee she would be unavailable to appear before Congress due to the government shutdown, which President Trump forced after Democrats refused to give him funding for a border wall. But Trump and Congress ended the shutdown last Friday. "Your decision to refuse my invitation to testify before the Committee on Homeland Security regarding our nation's border security on February 6, 2019, is unreasonable and unacceptable," Thompson wrote in a letter Tuesday. "I strongly urge you to reconsider." |
| Soybean shocker: China surprises Trump administration with Oval Office announcement | |
 | A Chinese official surprised the Trump administration by announcing plans to increase purchases of American soybeans in an Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump, a senior U.S. official said Thursday as a round of trade talks concluded without a deal. "Yes. The answer is yes. It was a surprise announcement in the sense I didn't know about it until a very short time before," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told Roll Call during a briefing with a group of reporters following several of days of talks with Chinese officials. The announcement set off confusion inside the West Wing, with senior aides initially unsure whether the Chinese official indicated his government would increase its daily buys of U.S. soybeans to 5 million bushels or "tons," as Trump himself said after the official made the announcement while seated across from his customary seat behind the Resolute Desk. |
| Trump Discusses Claims of 'Fake News,' and the Impact, With New York Times Publisher | |
 | President Trump takes credit for popularizing the term "fake news." But the consequences? Not his concern. In lengthy and at times contradictory remarks on Thursday about the news media -- which he deemed "important" and "beautiful," but also "so bad" and "unfair" -- Mr. Trump called himself "a victim" of unfair coverage and declined to accept responsibility for a rise in threats against journalists since he took office. "I do notice that people are declaring more and more fake news, where they go, 'Fake news!'" the president said during an Oval Office interview with The New York Times. "I even see it in other countries. I don't necessarily attribute that to me. I think I can attribute the term to me. I think I was the one that started using it, I would say." In an unusual arrangement, the publisher of The Times, A. G. Sulzberger, joined two of the paper's White House correspondents in conducting Thursday's interview, and he took the lead in questioning the president about his attacks on the press. |
| Sarah Huckabee Sanders says God wanted Trump to be president. She's not alone. | |
 | Did God really want Donald Trump to be president? That's what White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders thinks, according to an interview she gave Wednesday for the Christian Broadcasting Network's news program. "I think God calls all of us to fill different roles at different times and I think that he wanted Donald Trump to become president," Sanders said, according to CBN News. "That's why he's there and I think he has done a tremendous job in supporting a lot of the things that people of faith really care about." That belief is not unique to Sanders, but one many evangelical Christians share, said James Hudnut-Beumler, an American religious history professor at Vanderbilt University. It is rooted in an interpretation of Romans 13 that claims Christians need to obey leaders because God put them in positions of power for a purpose, Hudnut-Beumler said. "Contemporary evangelicals, because they are so biblically driven, when they find a leader they particularly like, they love to go to Romans 13 in thinking about why people should obey or why God has perhaps raised up this leader in this time and what providential role this leader, in this case President Trump, should have," Hudnut-Beumler said. |
| How social media will force 2020 Dems to sideline traditional campaigning | |
 | Elizabeth Warren made a big deal of drinking a beer while live-streaming. A Kamala Harris aide shared a video of her boss desk dancing to Cardi B. Cory Booker posts Instagrams of himself taking selfies. As the 2020 Democratic presidential primary gets underway, the current and potential White House contenders are trying to connect with supporters online, convinced it's an essential way to gain an advantage in what could be the biggest Democratic field ever. These public, seemingly lighthearted moments reflect something going on behind the scenes, where strategists -- racing to adjust to power of social media -- are grappling with how to build a digital-first operation that can cultivate an online army. That could mean radical changes to the personnel and organization of the campaign itself -- including a fundamental rethinking of traditional roles in areas such as communications and fundraising. Doing things online is not new in 2020. What's different now is America's digital culture. |
| U.S. economy added 304,000 jobs in January, shaking off partial government shutdown | |
 | The U.S. economy added 304,000 jobs in January, shaking off the partial government shutdown with a surprisingly robust hiring surge, federal economists reported Friday. The unemployment rate crept up to 4 percent, capturing the toll of furloughed employees who temporarily stopped clocking in. The strong January numbers come despite the 35-day closure that halted the wages of roughly 800,000 federal workers and benched more than a million contractors who prepare meals and clean and guard public buildings. Analysts had expected to see only 170,000 new positions. The U.S. private sector appeared to chug along at an especially healthy pace, and the country smashed through an important milestone: January was the 100th straight month of job growth since 2010. |
| MUW students give back through day of service | |
| Mississippi University for Women junior Markayla Duck walked into the Boys and Girls Club in Columbus on Wednesday for the first time in nearly a decade. Now 20, Duck said she remembers the years she spent in the classroom she was now cleaning for MUW Student Day of Service. She recalled being 11, sitting at the tables and doing her homework, hanging out with friends and playing basketball in the gym. "I've been really wanting to give back here," Duck said. "It brings back a lot of memories, and the times I had here was great. I'll always remember it." Duck, along with five other MUW volunteers, spent Wednesday afternoon cleaning classrooms, building shelves and working with BGC kids. MUW Student Day of Service was orchestrated to kick off President Nora Miller's inaugural celebration. Originally, Miller said she had hoped to volunteer alongside students, but was unable to attend because of meetings. The point, Miller said, was to give back locally and show MUW is a part of Columbus. |
| Our View: The W celebrates -- and we're all invited | |
| The Dispatch editorializes: This week, Mississippi University for Women is celebrating the inauguration of Nora Miller as its 15th president with a series of events that focus on many of the unique programs and opportunities the school provides. Presidential inaugurations typically are insular, often intimate affairs, designed by and for those with direct ties to the university -- students, faculty and staff. That's not the case with The W. Everyone is invited. Beginning with Wednesday's "Day of Service," a collaboration with the United Way of Lowndes County, and continuing through Saturday with the inaugural "Rise and Shine" 5K run, it's clear that university officials have made every effort to engage the community beyond the narrow confines of campus. ... When Jim Borsig took over as President in 2011, one of his goals was to rebuild The W's relationship with the community, and much progress has been made in that effort. In selecting as Borsig's successor Nora Miller, a MUW alumna with 17 years of service at the university, the W is showing its commitment to that community-building goal. |
| Counseling center at UM limits student appointments | |
 | When Miss Ole Miss Jessica Tran saw the screenshot during winter break, she was immediately disheartened. She was texting Nakiyah Jordan about going to the University Counseling Center, and Jordan sent back a screenshot from the UCC website -- a bold, red notice at the top of the page. "EFFECTIVE JANUARY 2, 2019: The UCC will initiate a new session limits policy for individual counseling (10 per academic year per student). For further information see the "Services" tab above. If you have questions regarding this new policy, please feel free to contact us." Jordan had just started going to the UCC when she saw the notice. "It just felt like I'm trying to do better for myself, but now I can't go as frequently. It just felt sort of discouraging," she said. When Tran returned to campus, she met with UCC director Bud Edwards to learn about why the policy was in place. She did not want to be angry -- she wanted to understand. Edwards explained that he was focused on striking the correct balance of the number of patients who can be treated and the quality of care they receive. |
| City of Hattiesburg, WCU sign tuition agreement | |
 | The city of Hattiesburg and William Carey University have teamed up to help city employees and their families. Mayor Toby Barker and William Carey President Tommy King signed an agreement Thursday that will offer a 50 percent discount on undergraduate tuition for all children of city employees under the age of 25. "We have over 600 city employees' right now," said Barker. "Not all of them have children who are college age, but some do, and some have some that will one day be college age. That 50 percent discount applies to the children who are under 25 regardless of what department they work in. Any partnership we can create that will better the quality of life and opportunity for our employee's we are going to do that." Armendia Esters is a city of Hattiesburg employee whose son goes to William Carey. She says the half off tuition discount will be a blessing on her family. "Education is a costly investment but very much worth it. This will make a measurable impact on the quality of my family's life," said Esters. |
| History-shaping Supreme Court cases on display at Auburn University | |
 | To celebrate Alabama's bicentennial, Auburn University political sciences Professor Steve Brown installed an exhibit showcasing eight landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases establishing civil rights and liberties. "The exhibit is about great Supreme Court cases that originated in Alabama and had an impact on all American lives," Brown said. "When I first came to Alabama in 1998 to teach at Auburn, I was surprised by all these landmark cases from the state, and the bicentennial this year gave me the opportunity to capitalize on that and inform other Alabamians of these cases." Brown highlighted cases in the exhibit including the creation of the U.S. Constitution in 1877 to ensure citizens' civil rights were protected. The last panel ends with the 1973 Frontiero v. Richardson Supreme Court case questioning laws and regulations on the basis of gender discrimination, Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg's first case. |
| Trustees OK diversity office research wing at U. of Arkansas | |
| The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville will open a research wing in its diversity office to support school and business education and recruitment efforts. University of Arkansas trustees approved the establishment of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access, Leadership & Strategy Institute (to be known as "IDEALS") with only one trustee voting in opposition Thursday. Chancellor Joe Steinmetz said he expects the unit to be self-sustaining in two to three years with revenue that comes from outside entities. Those would include foundations, businesses and grants, he said. Trustee Kelly Eichler of Little Rock said she believes the public is concerned that universities are becoming "values institutions" and she isn't sure that advocacy always aligns with the state's conservative residents. "There's a lot of other issues the university should be paying attention to other than this," she said. |
| Four provost finalists will speak at UGA Chapel | |
 | Four finalists for the University of Georgia's No. 2 administrative job will give public presentations in the UGA Chapel beginning next week, the university announced Thursday. They are candidates to replace Pamela Whitten as UGA's Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs -- a job somewhat like that of a corporation's chief operating officer. Whitten left last summer to become president of Kennesaw State University after a little more than four years at UGA. The finalists include one administrator already at UGA: Rahul Shrivastav, UGA vice president for instruction since 2015. The list also includes two women: Beate Schmittmann, dean of Iowa State University's College of Liberal Arts; and Elizabeth Spiller, dean of the College of Letters and Science at the University of California, Davis. The fourth candidate is Jack Hu, vice president for research at the University of Michigan. |
| With new leadership in House, expectations build for college transparency legislation | |
 | When California governor Gavin Newsom offered his inaugural state budget, it included a proposal that was familiar to participants in one of the longest-running debates over higher ed policy in Washington. Newsom, who was elected in November, called for investing $10 million in a data system that would track outcomes in K-12, higher education and the work force. Such a system would allow the state to monitor the success of individual schools in getting students to and through college and into well-paying jobs. His proposal was the latest illustration of how state leaders are looking for workarounds for the current federal ban on collecting student-level data -- a prohibition that has a strong chance of being overturned in the new Congress. "This proposal out of California is another demonstration of the hunger for higher-quality data to improve decision making and to help students make better choices," said Mamie Voight, vice president of policy research at the Institute for Higher Education Policy. Voight and other supporters of a federal student data system to track college outcomes say that demand should inform members of Congress. And after Democrats took the House in November, the prospects of undoing the ban appear much stronger. |
| American Library Association criticized for response to racism complaint | |
| A scholarly communications librarian at New York University set off an uncomfortable debate among fellow librarians about the racial views and values of the American Library Association after sharing that she was verbally attacked by a white colleague at an ALA meeting this week. What's more, the librarian, April Hathcock, said a formal complaint she made to the organization was met with intimidation by the ALA's legal counsel, who told her to keep quiet. On Twitter, many librarians expressed outrage at the ALA's treatment of Hathcock, one of few black women in a profession that is overwhelmingly white. And some called for the organization, which says on its website that equality, diversity and inclusion are "fundamental values of the association," to take a deep look at its culture and policies with regard to diversity. The ALA has since apologized to Hathcock. |
| Lawyers on Race-Conscious Admissions: 'This is Doable. But Also, Do it Right.' | |
 | If part of the intent of the recent affirmative-action lawsuits brought against universities was to send a chill through admissions offices, it doesn't seem to be working. Most of the discussion at a conference here this week on race and admissions was about how to do a better job bringing underrepresented minority students to campuses, not about whether it can be done at all. "We do have to be creative about solutions on equity," said Stella M. Flores, an associate dean and associate professor at New York University. The lawsuits against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were discussed at the University of Southern California's Admissions, Race and Identity conference, but they were not front and center. Instead, the roughly 200 admissions officials, professors, and other administrators got a rundown on the research on identity and access to college. |
SPORTS
| 21-0 Start Carries No. 6 Mississippi St Women Past LSU 68-35 | |
| Andra Espinoza-Hunter scored 16 points, Teaira McCowan had 13 points and 20 rebounds and No. 6 Mississippi State scored the first 21 points of the game Thursday night in coasting to a 68-35 win over LSU. It is the fewest points Mississippi State has ever allowed in a Southeastern Conference game. Espinoza-Hunter scored the first eight points of the game, the Bulldogs went 7 of 10 from the field and the Tigers missed their first 12 shots and had six turnovers before Yasmine Bidikuindila scored with 1:57 to play in the first quarter Jordan Danberry added 12 points for the Bulldogs (20-1, 8-0 SEC), who have won 10-straight this season and 24-straight conference games. McCowan reached 20 rebounds for the fourth time this season and 10th time in her career. |
| Putting clamps on Tigers: Mississippi State women set mark for points given up in SEC game | |
 | Shortly after Teaira McCowan tipped the basketball off to Jazzmun Holmes on the opening possession of Thursday night's game at LSU, Andra-Espinoza-Hunter drilled a 3-pointer and Mississippi State took an early lead. It was at that point that the outing was virtually over for the Tigers. Inside a Pete Maravich Assembly Center that had more maroon in it than purple, the Bulldogs carried out an amazing 21-0 start to the game and never looked back from there. It led to what would be a convincing Southeastern Conference road win at 68-37, which is the 24th-consecutive regular-season conference win for MSU dating back to last season. It was easy work for the Bulldogs (20-1, 8-0 SEC) who won for the 10th-straight time since losing at No. 5 Oregon in December. They dominated the defensive side of the ball like they haven't at any point this season and held an SEC opponent to the lowest total in a game in school history. There wasn't much that head coach Vic Schaefer could be upset about post game. "I'm just really proud of my team today, especially our energy defensively," Schaefer said. |
| Bulldogs stifle Tigers as Mississippi State reaches 8-0 in SEC play | |
| One minute and 21 seconds into Mississippi State's game against LSU in Baton Rouge on Thursday night, sophomore guard Andra Espinoza-Hunter had more points than the home team would score in the entire first quarter. Espinoza-Hunter popped two 3-pointers in that span, and LSU was held to four points in the first frame. Espinoza-Hunter scored the game's first eight points, and Mississippi State started on a 21-0 run. The end result was an easy 68-35 win for the No. 6 Bulldogs. LSU didn't score until the 1:57 mark of the first quarter. The Mississippi State (20-1, 8-0 SEC) defense held the Tigers (12-8, 3-5 SEC) to their lowest single quarter point total of the season on 2-of-15 shooting. "That first quarter is as good as we've been in a long time," head coach Vic Schaefer said. |
| LSU women go historically cold in 68-35 loss to No. 6 Mississippi State | |
 | Another poor start by the LSU women's basketball team led to a wipeout loss of near-historic proportions against No. 6 Mississippi State on Thursday. LSU fell into a 21-0 hole and scored only four points in the first quarter on the way to a 68-35 defeat agaisnt No. 6 Mississippi State at the Maravich Assembly Center. The charged-up visitors squeezed LSU with a full-court press and shut down the Lady Tigers' halfcourt sets. LSU missed its first 11 shots and had six turnovers before reserve Yasmine Bidikuindila scored inside with 1:58 left in the first quarter. It got worse after halftime. Shanice Norton scored back-to-back baskets, but LSU missed its next 13 attempts as State went on an 18-0 run to swell the lead to 39 points. "A lot of credit to Mississippi State, because their game plan to get after us defensively led to several turnovers in the first quarter," LSU coach Nikki Fargas said. |
| Reggie Perry creating his own legacy at Mississippi State | |
| Reggie Perry started playing basketball competitively when he was in the fourth grade and by the time he was an eighth grader, college coaches were already contacting him. Before Perry's recruitment was over, he had risen to five-star status and was selected to play in the 2018 McDonald's All-American Game. The 6-foot-10, 245-pound forward initially committed to Arkansas but backed off that pledge after 10 months and eventually committed to Mississippi State. "I just wanted to do what was best for my family and also do what was best for me too," Perry said. "I felt like Mississippi State was one of the best places." Possibly the biggest supporter of Perry's decision was his father, Al, who lettered for the Bulldogs from 1975-78 and still ranks third in the program's history with 510 career assists. |
| Ranking SEC football teams by attendance in 2018 | |
 | Everything is a competition in the SEC, from games on the field to recruiting to facilities upgrades. Likewise, attendance is another way to measure one conference school against another. But who led the league in attendance in 2018, and who did the best job of selling out its stadium every week? We have only official attendance figures to go by, and those generally count only tickets sold rather than fans through the turnstile. But we can still use those numbers as a measuring stick for SEC teams last season. So here, in reverse order, are the 2018 attendance rankings for the SEC: 10. Mississippi State (58,057): The Bulldogs have a smaller stadium (61,337) than any SEC team other than Vanderbilt, but did a good job of filling it in 2018. Mississippi State sold 94.6 percent of its available seats, with a capacity-plus crowd (61,406) for Florida, and at least 54,289 at all seven home games. |
| NCAA penalizes U. of Missouri athletics for academic fraud | |
 | Three University of Missouri athletic programs face penalties following an NCAA investigation into academic fraud. The NCAA announced its ruling Thursday following an investigation that began in November 2016. The findings were centered on the MU football, softball and baseball programs with the sanctions being highlighted by a one-year postseason ban for each program. The competition ban was a shock to Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk, who said in a conference call that he thought Missouri might get probation. The investigation found violations by former MU tutor Yolanda Kumar, who publicly claimed allegations of academic fraud against MU in 2016. The NCAA said in its news release that Kumar "violated NCAA ethical conduct, academic misconduct and academic extra benefits rules when she completed academic work for 12 student-athletes, according to a Division I Committee on Infractions panel." |
| Former tutor alleges current, former Missouri administrators involved in academic fraud | |
 | Less than 12 hours after the NCAA Committee on Infractions announced sanctions against the University of Missouri athletics department, the tutor whose Facebook post spurred the initial investigation outed a number of the student-athletes to whom she alleges she provided impermissible benefits. Yolanda Kumar, who wasn't named in the NCAA's report because, the report said, she had threatened to breach confidentiality multiple times, took to Twitter and named a number of former Missouri student-athletes and current and former academic administrators as complicit in the academic fraud. Kumar alleges she is no longer able to work in the Columbia Public Schools district because of the 10-year show-cause penalty levied against her by the NCAA. Through a department spokesperson, Missouri declined to comment on Kumar's Twitter thread. |
| NCAA punishes Missouri in blatant case of academic fraud | |
| A former tutor at the University of Missouri at Columbia performed academic work -- including taking three full online courses -- for a dozen athletes, helping to keep many of them eligible to compete, the National Collegiate Athletic Association found Thursday. The NCAA's Division I Committee on Infractions imposed a stinging set of penalties on the university, including a ban on postseason competition in football next season and in baseball and softball this spring and fines of 1 percent of the annual budgets in those sports. Missouri officials blasted the NCAA for what Chancellor Alexander Cartwright called its "harsh and inconsistent" decision, and vowed to appeal them. The NCAA committee said the penalties could have been worse had the panel concluded that the tutor was acting either at the encouragement or with the knowledge of other university officials, as she asserted was the case. |
| After millions in investments, Walkers given name on U. of Arkansas stadium | |
| During a 1994 meeting of University of Arkansas baseball fans, Willard Walker listened as then-UA athletics director Frank Broyles discussed the need for $1 million to kick-start construction for a new baseball stadium. The next day, Walker and his son, Johnny Mike, met with Broyles and then-baseball coach Norm DeBriyn and pledged the $1 million requested. The donation gave the Razorbacks $2 million earmarked for the project that would eventually become Baum Stadium. Charlie Baum donated $1 million two years earlier. "The four of us met, and I'll never forget Willard Walker said, 'Frank, I'll give that million and I want that last dollar to be the last brick in that building. I want to get going on that baseball stadium,'" DeBriyn said. "The next day Coach Broyles and I were flying to Arizona to look at facilities and that's what got it going. Johnny Mike was kind of the impetus behind all that." Through cash and Walmart stock donations, the Baums and Walkers combined to contribute more than $4 million toward the stadium's $8.4 million initial cost, according a report in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on the day the stadium opened in 1996. On Thursday, the UA board of trustees unanimously approved a recommendation to add the Walker name to the 23-year-old Baum Stadium, changing the facility's official name to Baum-Walker Stadium at George Cole Field. |
| Report: Nick Saban wins court battle against IRS over Baton Rouge property investment | |
| Nick Saban notched another win in Baton Rouge. This time it was in the courtroom instead of on the gridiron. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Thursday that the former LSU football coach, who now coaches at Alabama, will be able to claim a bad-debt deduction that the Internal Revenue Service tried to deny. The debt stems from a 2006 investment when Saban reportedly loaned developer Joseph Spinosa $2 million for the "construction of a shopping center and office complex in Baton Rouge," according to the WSJ. The project hit financial hardship, WSJ reports, and instead of repayment Saban was offered a "15% stake in 2590 Associates, a partnership that owned a different Baton Rouge real-estate venture." |
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