Pirate Galaxy » total commitment but lacking creativ

Mississippi State looked bad against Alabama last weekend. Meanwhile, Arkansas was thumped by LSU at home.But the Bulldogs (4-6, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) and Razorbacks (6-4, 2-4) both say they still have plenty of confidence going into their meeting on Saturday in Starkville, Mississippi. Theyre also not going to underestimate each other just because of one rough game.After all, the SEC Western Division has a way of humbling just about everybody at some point.Alabama has made a lot of people look not-so good, Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said.He added that Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen is extremely talented. Hes obviously taken that program to heights its never been before, if you remember it was just a year or two ago they were in the top 1, top 5 conversation. That doesnt happen by chance.Mississippi State was dominated in last weekends 51-3 loss to the top-ranked Tide. But the Bulldogs are less than two weeks removed from a 35-28 upset win over then-No. 4 Texas A&M.When Mississippi State is playing well, its usually got a good ground game going with quarterback Nick Fitzgerald and running back Aeris Williams. This weekends game appears to be a good matchup for the Bulldogs: The Razorbacks rank close to the bottom of the SEC in rushing defense.Arkansas hopes to rekindle a passing attack that was great during the first half of the season, but has struggled over the past few weeks. Quarterback Austin Allen is 3rd in the SEC with 2,501 passing yards.Mississippi State has won four in a row in the series, but the past three have been decided by a touchdown or less.We have to be ready to play for four quarters, Mullen said. Every year this game comes down to the last play.---Some other things to watch when Mississippi State hosts Arkansas on Saturday:ALLENS HEALTH: Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen led the SEC in passing efficiency through the first half of the season, but the first-year starter has struggled since his right knee was injured against Auburn on Oct. 22. In the 2 + games since the injury, the junior has completed only 35 of 71 passes (49.3 percent) and was 15-of-31 passing for 210 yards and two interceptions in a loss to LSU last week. Allen said hes fine, but he has appeared less-than-willing to push off his back leg on several throws in recent weeks.RUSH WOES: The Razorbacks rush defense has been hit or miss this season, but mostly miss. A week after allowing only 12 rushing yards by Florida, Arkansas allowed the Tigers to gain 390 yards on the ground last week. LSU sophomore Derrius Guice led the way with a career-high 252 yards rushing, and the Razorbacks are now last in the country against the run -- allowing an average of 6.3 yards per carry.INSTANT CLASSIC: Mississippi State and Arkansas played an entertaining game one year ago that ended with the Bulldogs taking a 51-50 victory in Fayetteville. Bulldogs quarterback Dak Prescott -- who is now leading the Dallas Cowboys -- accounted for a school-record 554 yards of total offense and seven touchdowns. The Bulldogs rallied from a 42-31 deficit and blocked an Arkansas field goal in the final seconds to secure the win.BIG PLAY FITZ: Mississippi States Fitzgerald has run for 10 yards or more on 33 plays this season, which ranks 11th nationally and is tops in the SEC among players at any position.ROSS AMONG MSUS BEST: Mississippi senior receiver Fred Ross has become the most productive player at his position in school history. Over the past four weeks, Ross has set four of the schools career records, including catches (184), consecutive games with a catch (32), 100-yard receiving games (9) and receiving yards (2,275).---AP Sports Writer Kurt Voigt in Fayetteville, Arkansas, contributed to this story.---More AP college football at www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 . Ryan Smyth Jersey . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Jujhar Khaira Jersey . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. http://www.hockeyoilersshop.com/wayne-gretzky-jersey/ . Walcott is available for Saturdays home match against Southampton as Arsenal looks to extend its two-point lead at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners are currently the second highest scorers in the league but Wenger insists Walcott will add something extra to his team. Adam Larsson Oilers Jersey . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Oilers Jersey . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Diana Taurasi has been there, done that, and won literally everything there is to win in womens basketball -- no, really. Everything.NCAA titles at Connecticut. WNBA titles with Phoenix. Three Olympic gold medals (and counting....). Pro and college most valuable player awards and European titles in Russia, where she pulls down a $1 million-plus annual salary. She was actually paid by her Russian team not to play for the Mercury last summer, the better to rest her body for this years overseas run all the way to -- are you kidding? -- a seventh European title. So it was no surprise at all really when Taurasi -- the ultimate winner -- seemed to take it a little personally Tuesday when Serbia, the U.S. teams third-round opponent at the Rio Summer Olympics, had ambitions of muddying this pretty picture. Serbia actually took a one-point lead with eight minutes gone in the first quarter -- a rarity against this U.S. team -- only to see Taurasi answer by scoring 11 of the United States next 15 points.Nine of them came on three consecutive 3-pointers that left her shoving her hands straight down each side of her shorts as if she was putting them back into imaginary holsters by the third one she made.The U.S. jumped back out to a 31-21 lead, and the Americans never looked back on the way to a 110-84 win. Taurasi had 22 of her team-best 25 points in the first half. The six three-pointers she made broke her own Olympic record of five.We knew what was up -- theyre European champions for a reason, Taurasi said of Serbia after the game. Its good for us to be challenged.The U.S. has now won 44 straight Olympic games and is chasing its sixth straight gold medal.Taurasi, now 34, could score in the mid-20s any time she wants, but shes smart enough to realize she doesnt have to do that for this talent-laden team. Like a lot of stars, she knows its often when you score that matters most, not necessarily how much. She keeps a close eye on the emotional temperature of the team, whooping when they make a steal, barking when they miss a screen, keeping everyone engaged.Tuesday, the U.S. hit a little scoring drought after a hot start. Olympic first-timer Elena Delle Donne, the reigning WNBA MVP, picked up two quick fouls almost as soon as she came in the game and went back to the bench when Taurasi -- who has never been timid about shooting, anyway -- seemed to get all Shakespearean and decide: If not noweth, then when?It was mostly about the group we had in the game at that time, she stated. We said, We need to get on a run. And so she shot -- one, two, three 3-pointers in a row. The net barely twiitched.ddddddddddddShe bounced up and down and let out a little woo-hoo after the last of them. She was enjoying this. And her teammates were enjoying it too. If not Serbia.Wheeew, she was hot, wasnt she? swingman Angel McCoughtry said. She just had that look.The way Taurasi is willing to switch between taking this team on her shoulders and deferring to her enormously talented teammates doesnt make her unique on this squad of wall-to-wall stars. But shes still the best at demanding the ball, and shes the most fun to watch, if only because of her swagger and attitude. One of her nicknames is White Mamba, which can sound a little silly until you realize it was Kobe Bryant, the original Mamba, who gave her the name.Taurasi, of course, loved it. She plays like she thinks shes the biggest bad ass on the court. But off the court, say the other players, shes the best teammate you could ever want.Brittney Griner, the 6-foot-8 former Baylor center who now plays year-round with Taurasi in Russia and the WNBA, smiled the other day when asked if Taurasi has drifted away from the surprise motivational phone calls she used to make to her before games, skipping pleasantries like hello and getting right to the point -- Are you going to show up tonight or what? -- then hanging up before Griner could get a word in.She still does it, Griner says, laughing, but now she just says that stuff to my face.Taurasi often seems to be channeling U.S. coach Geno Auriemma, her mentor and alter ego at UConn, when she dissects games the U.S. has just played and nitpicks about what needs to be cleaned up.Much like Auriemma, she got a little impatient after the United States past two games and gave a Geno-esque answer when asked a spin-off of the perennial UConn question: Is the U.S. womens teams dominance in Olympic play bad for the game?When Taurasi was asked this a few days ago after routing Spain, she said, If you dont like watching good basketball, go watch rowing.Tuesday, asked the same bad-for-basketball question again, she laughed wearily and said, I dont even know how to answer it anymore. Would it be better if we lost by 50? ....We have 12 women that dedicate their lives to the game of basketball year-round -- overseas, USA, the WNBA. So theyre knocking us for doing that?Its a bit disrespectful, I would say.The U.S., now 3-0 in Rio, plays Canada Friday, then has one more game before its on to medal-round play. Said Taurasi: We just need to come out of that locker room, and do what we do. ' ' '